Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen says AI companies must "step up and genuinely comply" with the White House AI agreement signed with President Trump this week.

Haugen warns that flexible regulatory frameworks allow companies to comply with the letter of the law while sidestepping its intent.

The internal documents leaked by Haugen led to the 2021 Wall Street Journal "Facebook Files" series, which also inspired the film "The Social Reckoning," released on October 9.

In an interview with "Financial Morning" on Friday, former Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen said that just days after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other tech CEOs signed the White House AI self-regulation agreement, AI companies must step up and honor the spirit of the agreement, not just its written words.

"Looking back at how tech companies have dealt with regulation: when faced with highly flexible rules, companies tend to strictly follow the written text while finding ways to circumvent the original intent behind the rules," Haugen said.

She questioned whether these companies will uphold the spirit of the rules or exploit loopholes that are not explicitly prohibited to "bypass the regulatory fence."

Haugen previously served as a product manager on Facebook's civic misinformation team. In 2021, she leaked a trove of internal documents that led to the famous "Facebook Files" series. Some of those documents showed the company was aware its platform could harm teenagers' mental health.

The new film "The Social Reckoning," written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and released on October 9, is based on these events. Haugen herself also wrote a book titled "The Power of One: How I Found the Courage to Speak Up and Why I Exposed Facebook's Secrets," recounting her experience of leaking the internal documents.

In recent weeks, discussion about the potential risks AI poses to human society has reached a fever pitch. Haugen said that compared to the past, AI companies today are "more proactive" in addressing safety risks. She also noted that Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei actively calling for independent third-party audits is a positive signal.

"At least it shows that Dario clearly understands that once there is room for cutting corners, even people with good intentions will start taking shortcuts," Haugen said.