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All I see in this story are a bunch of things that were under discussion at some point, but never happened. But then, “Meta considered doing business in China,

by avalys 1y ago

All I see in this story are a bunch of things that were under discussion at some point, but never happened. But then, “Meta considered doing business in China, evaluated and negotiated with the Chinese government what would be required to do so, and then did not proceed” isn’t a story that is going to sell a lot of books or get her a lot of attention. Another tell that this is a stunt for attention and not a genuine issue is her trying to blame China’s progress in AI on Meta’s release of an open-source model.

apercu 1y ago
> But then, “Meta considered doing business in China, evaluated and negotiated with the Chinese government what would be required to do so, and then did not proceed” isn’t a story that is going to sell a lot of books or get her a lot of attention It could be as simple as Meta did not want to give the Chinese government partial ownership and their IP.
- surge 1y ago
  I remember when this happened, it was in the news then, except the conversation was everyone in SV was doing it, including Google. They decided not to. We don't convict for thinking about robbing a bank, you actually have to attempt it and nothing being discussed was explicitly illegal, merely unethical by some arguments, but then again, NSA has several listening posts at AT&T hubs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A), and Apple is building backdoors for iCloud in the UK, its the cost of doing business in western countries, that ethically its simply complying with local laws at that point, just degrees of magnitude.
malshe 1y ago
Read her book Careless People [1] where she shared many details. A crucial aspect of the China story is that FB/Meta conveyed to the Chinese officials that they were ready to do anything they asked for in the hope that they will be allowed in China. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Careless-People-Cautionary-Power-Idealism/dp/1250391237 https://www.amazon.com/Careless-People-Cautionary-Power-Idea...
- maxglute 1y ago
  IS there a TLDR for why it didn't happen. Reporting at the time said internal dissent (woke/liberal internal culture + worker power) at the time killed the project like it did similar initiative at Google (Project DragonFly).
  - malshe 1y ago
    I think the book mentions that it did not happen because Xi abruptly shut it all down.

by avalys 1y ago

apercu 1y ago

> But then, “Meta considered doing business in China, evaluated and negotiated with the Chinese government what would be required to do so, and then did not proceed” isn’t a story that is going to sell a lot of books or get her a lot of attention It could be as simple as Meta did not want to give the Chinese government partial ownership and their IP.

surge 1y ago
I remember when this happened, it was in the news then, except the conversation was everyone in SV was doing it, including Google. They decided not to. We don't convict for thinking about robbing a bank, you actually have to attempt it and nothing being discussed was explicitly illegal, merely unethical by some arguments, but then again, NSA has several listening posts at AT&T hubs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A), and Apple is building backdoors for iCloud in the UK, its the cost of doing business in western countries, that ethically its simply complying with local laws at that point, just degrees of magnitude.

malshe 1y ago

Read her book Careless People [1] where she shared many details. A crucial aspect of the China story is that FB/Meta conveyed to the Chinese officials that they were ready to do anything they asked for in the hope that they will be allowed in China. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Careless-People-Cautionary-Power-Idealism/dp/1250391237 https://www.amazon.com/Careless-People-Cautionary-Power-Idea...

maxglute 1y ago
IS there a TLDR for why it didn't happen. Reporting at the time said internal dissent (woke/liberal internal culture + worker power) at the time killed the project like it did similar initiative at Google (Project DragonFly).
- malshe 1y ago
  I think the book mentions that it did not happen because Xi abruptly shut it all down.