Meta hit back at the New York Times over an op-ed it published by Joseph Gordon-Levitt that attacks Mark Zuckerberg over the tech giant’s controversial AI chatbots — noting that the Hollywood star’s wife is a prominent tech executive who has worked in artificial intelligence.
In the video op-ed, the “Inception” vents his outrage over reports that the company’s AI chatbots were allowed to have “sensual” conversations with minors — and accused Zuckerberg of chasing “lots and lots of money” while ignoring safety.
“It’s hard to describe how angry this makes me,” the “3rd Rock from the Sun” star said in a New York Times video op-ed, noting he’s a father to an 8-year-old. It’s not clear how many kids have already been exposed to “synthetic intimacy,” Gordon-Levitt warned.
In response, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone took the Gray Lady to task — noting that Gordon-Levitt’s wife, Tasha McCauley, a tech entrepreneur and former CEO of GeoSim Systems, was once a board member of a Meta rival.
“What qualifies an ‘actor and filmmaker’ to weigh in on AI issues (and to make a bunch of inaccurate claims)?” Stone wrote on X. “Must be because, as @nytopinion buries in the last two seconds, his wife is a former OpenAI board member.”
The Post has sought comment from the Times, Gordon-Levitt and McCauley.
McCauley was one of four OpenAI board members who took part in a November 2023 “coup” that resulted in the temporary removal of Sam Altman as chief executive of the ChatGPT creator.
Days later, Altman was reinstated as CEO following overwhelming support from OpenAI’s rank-and-file employees. McCauley and other board members who sought to remove Altman were eventually replaced.
McCauley is current an adjunct senior management scientist at the RAND Corporation, a global think tank focused on public policy, science and technology.
In his op-ed, Gordon-Levitt pointed to two new super PACs backed by Silicon Valley titans — including Meta — that have pledged as much as $200 million to fight government regulation of AI. He urged voters to reject candidates bankrolled by tech giants and to demand laws protecting children from “predatory companies and their algorithms.”
“Regulating AI is probably going to happen at the state level first,” he said. “Find out who’s running in your state. And if you see a candidate taking money from one of these big tech super PACs, don’t vote for them.”
Last week, Business Insider published leaked documents from Meta showing how the company moved to train its AI bots to ban inappropriate chats with minors.
Leaked internal documents showed staff had signed off on policies that permitted sexually tinged exchanges with minors — guidelines that were approved by Meta’s legal and policy teams, including its chief ethicist.
