Béjar claimed Meta ignored warnings about harmful content. It echoed similar claims by Frances Haugen, a disillusioned former engineer, that not only scuppered Meta’s plans for a kids version of Instagram, but inspired Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, and a group of other US attorneys to pursue Meta this time around.
Béjar also alleged Meta had adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about the safety of children on its apps. The company did not accept any wrongdoing in its settlement and denied all allegations during the trial.
It’s not just Zuckerberg we should fear, of course. In fact, Meta isn’t even in the top three big spenders on AI. Amazon leads the way with between $200bn and $220bn set aside for AI this year. For Google parent Alphabet the figure is up to $205bn, while Microsoft has a war chest of around $190bn.
Yet it is still a tiny cadre of tech executives and venture capitalists who will determine where the majority of the capital being ploughed into AI goes, the pace at which it unfolds and the extent to which safety is, or isn’t prioritised.
What’s more, one imagines that the scramble to develop AI is only going to intensify as regulation squeezes the life out of social media.
Social networks like Facebook aren’t yet a dead end, but the trajectory is such that it is surely only a matter of time before growth grinds to a halt and they’re considered legacy businesses.
TikTok is facing a similar lawsuit from US states, while YouTube is likely to be put under pressure to enact the same controls. Crucially, much of Meta’s $18bn penalty will be paid only if the pair agree to the same restrictions on children’s screen time.
Meanwhile, the entire industry is facing much harsher constraints elsewhere. Having promised to follow an Australian ban on under-16s using social media under Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour Government is expected to face pressure to follow through with that.
And as Bill Gates has argued this week, it is widely accepted that AI is going to be hugely disruptive, not just to jobs but the wider economy and society in general.
Yet there appears to be no plan from the tech giants to address the fallout. Why? Because the AI race isn’t motivated by some altruistic desire to make the world a better place; it’s about making money.
“In private, people who understand how good this stuff is, and how much better it’s getting, they’re very worried,” he said. But the industry doesn’t want to fess up to that, Gates claims.
“They’re now saying to each other, ‘Hey, man, don’t say that. It’s bad for us – the next trillion dollars we’re trying to raise.’ They’re full speed ahead and hoping that the good outweighs the bad,” the Microsoft founder added.
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