Meta appoints anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck as AI bias advisor

https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/08/14/meta-robby-starbuck-ai/

by pentacent_hq • 11 months ago

117 25 11 months ago

pentacent_hq2• 11 months ago

Since a previous submission of this link by another user was flagged by someone claiming the term "conspiracy theorist" was a "spin" and unfounded: Here is a source for that claim: https://www.advocate.com/news/robby-starbuck-dei-lgbtq-consp...

He and his wife, Landon, produced a documentary together perpetuating the same conspiracy theory spouted by disgraced commentator Alex Jones — that toxic chemicals are causing children to identify as LGBTQ+. Starbuck falsely asserted that exposure to the pesticide atrazine turned amphibians "gay,” prompting male frogs to mate — a claim that has been repeatedly debunked.
Starbuck has also claimed that displaying pride flags is “grooming and indoctrination," and supported the unsubstantiated notion that transgender people transition to assault women in public bathrooms (transgender people are far more likely to be the victims of violent assaults.)

jeffbee• 11 months ago

The amount of vitriol and scorn I heap onto Meta recruiters really hasn't kept pace with the escalating evil of the company.

iknowstuff2• 11 months ago

The fuck? I can’t imagine anyone at Meta, a company full of smart people in the bay area, actually wanted to work with people like that?

Just how intertwined those corporations are with the government? Between this and the sudden shift against DEI policies even in companies who are staunch supporters of diversity I wonder what kinda pressure the gov is applying

tough2• 11 months ago

zuck hired also dana the ufc guy no?

not like he seems to give a fuck

isodev• 11 months ago

Well, he has 3 kids right? Let’s hope for their sake they’re not anywhere in the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

_fat_santa• 11 months ago

They didn't do it willingly. His hiring was part of a settlement for an AI defamation case [1]

[1] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-robby-starbuck-ai-lawsuit-s...

iknowstuff2• 11 months ago

Thanks!

dathinab• 11 months ago

I can’t imagine anyone at Meta, a company full of smart people in the bay area, actually wanted to work with people like that?

You mean except their boss which has a long history with having problematic idea and just learned to not say it publicly?

I have been staying away from Meta because I think of Zuck as a dangerous ideologist with money since ~10+ years (through not anit-LBTGQ specific). I'm not surprised at all.

quantified• 11 months ago

They work under Zuck. They know what content moderation is required and not provided. They're more about "do I have profitable work" than who someone on the business side is. Plenty of Thiel people in the Bay Area.

tough2• 11 months ago

Zuck has promised allegiance to trump, so what's new here

jljljl• 11 months ago

Is this avoiding politics at work?

bagels• 11 months ago

I can't imagine these changes are going over well with many existing employees.

newtonsmethod2• 11 months ago

I think the article is highly exaggerating Starbuck's role at meta, and serves more of a role in being polemical. The WSJ have themselves reported on it: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-robby-starbuck-ai-lawsuit-s....

Likely because of the polemics of the article and its headline, many people in this thread are misinformed as to what Starbuck's role will be and that this came about as the result of a settlement.

There is also the joint statement posted by Joel Kaplan on X (likely the source for many articles): https://x.com/joel_kaplan/status/1953778908915982793 "Building on that work, Meta and Robby Starbuck will work collaboratively in the coming months to continue to find ways to address issues of ideological and political bias and minimize the risk that the model returns hallucinations in response to user queries."

biophysboy• 11 months ago

Robby Starbuck, a former music video director turned failed congressional candidate and MAGA Republican pundit, is the face of the right’s anti-DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) movement in its self-imposed ‘War on Woke’.

Trillion to one odds that "bias advisor" will be his third career failure. What's he going to do, look at every token? Rubber stamp the RL-HF?

contagiousflow• 11 months ago

Why was this flagged?

cultofmetatron• 11 months ago

cuz a certain demographic, that supports the expansion of authoritarian controls over democratic countries in order to get them to comply with a certain "non genocide", was offended by it.

newtonsmethod2• 11 months ago

For a more charitable interpretation: the pinknews is a source that regularly produces low quality, poorly fact-checked and polemical content, and is to me on the same level as the daily mail. The article here seems somewhat polemical, and it is difficult to verify if some of the stronger claims made are actually true.

The headline focusses on polemics and omits a detail many people would find quite important: that this was part of a lawsuit settlement. It also decides to use the word "appoint", which has a stronger underlying implication that Starbuck will have a job at / take a significant role in doing this at Meta.

It is important that this information is shared, but it is better if it's done accurately. I don't see why the source that Pinknews used itself, https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-robby-starbuck-ai-lawsuit-s..., wasn't used instead.

Chazprime• 11 months ago

Pink News is often not a reliable source; they’re prone to hyperbole.

slg• 11 months ago

I understand this topic brings out the worst in some users, but the governing of AI bias is an important issue that is on topic for HN. I don't know what the purpose of this site is if topics like this always get flagged killed within minutes.

pentacent_hq2• 11 months ago

That's exactly why I submitted it here.

saguntum• 11 months ago

I completely agree. Hopefully it was just due to how quickly it got flagged and mods correct this. It's relevant in at least 2 ways to HN (AI governance, Meta/large tech corps)

wahnfrieden• 11 months ago

It doesn't matter if mods approve it later. By the time they do, the momentum is killed and it won't show up for anyone. They don't resume the upvote momentum the post had at the time of being flagged off. The time after that is counted against it even though no one will see it to consider upvoting meanwhile.

mdhb• 11 months ago

The mod’s have shown time and time again that they think this is exactly how things should work and that if you think there’s any kind of effort by groups of people to flag things on ideological grounds than you are just paranoid.

I simply cannot get myself to a point where they sincerely believe that but they keep saying the same nonsense again and again.

burnt-resistor• 11 months ago

Antipatterns of Free speech is allowed so long as it benefits my side. and Topic X always leads to Y, so you can't talk about it.

If someone were looking for rational, robust debate on the most pressing and critical topics, this (and most online forums) historically haven't been the venue for that.

Call in to C-SPAN or Thom Hartmann Monday to Friday for that. ;@)

jhanschoo• 11 months ago

It's important to point out that this appointment is part of the settlement agreement for a defamation case between Meta and Starbuck. With this in mind, one wonders what actual power this position of advisor holds.

Meta appoints anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck as AI bias advisor

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