Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen urged AI companies on Friday to comply with the spirit of their White House self-regulation agreement, days after Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives signed it.
In an interview on Friday, Haugen told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” the companies must “step up and comply.” Haugen said tech companies often follow only the exact written text when dealing with “very flexible systems.”
During her appearance, Haugen also questioned whether AI firms will hold to the “spirit of the rules.” She said they could instead “go around the end of the fence” by exploiting what is not expressly prohibited.
Anthropic’s Audit Push Draws Praise
Haugen said AI companies are “more proactive” on safety concerns today than in years past. She credited Anthropic and CEO Dario Amodei for pushing for independent auditors.
She said the push suggests Amodei knows that when companies are given space to cut corners, “even the angels among us begin to cut corners.”
Pact Draws Political Pushback
The White House Accord on Super Intelligence, unveiled Tuesday, is not legally binding but calls for stronger internal controls, independent audits and board-level oversight.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called it “entirely unenforceable.”
The Facebook Files
Haugen, a former product manager on Facebook’s civic misinformation team, leaked several internal documents to The Wall Street Journal in 2021. The documents became the basis for a series of reports called “The Facebook Files.”
Some of the documents showed the company was aware that its platforms negatively affected teens’ mental health.
Haugen’s story is the focus of “The Social Reckoning,” a new Aaron Sorkin film releasing Oct. 9. She also wrote a book about her role in bringing the documents to light, “The Power of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook.”
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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