Frances Haugen has seen this movie before. Literally, in fact, since her story is now an Aaron Sorkin film. But the Facebook whistleblower's latest warning is aimed at a different industry: AI.
On Friday, Haugen urged AI companies to comply with the spirit of their White House self-regulation agreement, just days after Meta Platforms Inc. (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives put their names on it.
Speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Haugen said the companies must "step up and comply." Her concern is a familiar one to anyone who has watched tech firms negotiate with regulators: companies tend to follow the exact written text when dealing with "very flexible systems."
In other words, if the rules don't explicitly forbid it, it's fair game. Haugen questioned whether AI firms will honor the "spirit of the rules," warning they could instead "go around the end of the fence" by exploiting whatever isn't expressly prohibited.
Anthropic's Audit Push Draws Praise
It wasn't all skepticism. Haugen said AI companies are "more proactive" on safety concerns today than in years past, and she credited Anthropic and CEO Dario Amodei for pushing for independent auditors.
That push, she suggested, comes from a clear-eyed view of human nature: 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. It calls for stronger internal controls, independent audits and board-level oversight.
Not everyone is impressed. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called it "entirely unenforceable."
The Facebook Files
Haugen knows a thing or two about what happens when companies police themselves. A former product manager on Facebook's civic misinformation team, she leaked several internal documents to The Wall Street Journal in 2021. Those 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."
