A former Meta executive told Congress Wednesday that Mark Zuckerberg and other top leaders secretly aided China’s development of artificial intelligence while misleading lawmakers, employees, and the public.
Sarah Wynn-Williams, Meta’s former director of Global Public Policy, testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee that the company “repeatedly undermined US national security and betrayed American values” to build an $18 billion business in China.
Wynn-Williams, author of the memoir Careless People, alleged that Meta briefed the Chinese Communist Party on emerging technologies like AI as early as 2015 and helped fuel advances such as China’s DeepSeek model. She also claimed Meta removed the Facebook account of Chinese dissident Guo Wengui following pressure from Beijing.
“We are in a high-stakes AI arms race against China,” she said, accusing Meta of deceiving Congress while working behind the scenes with Chinese officials. Wynn-Williams added that Zuckerberg once sought to have China’s president name his child and was “censoring to his heart’s content” to gain favor.
Meta dismissed her claims as “divorced from reality,” insisting it does not operate in China and that any interest in doing so was publicly known years ago. Wynn-Williams’ testimony comes just days before Meta is set to go on trial for alleged antitrust violations.
