According to Business Insider, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) did not provide any funding in 2025 to the pro-immigration and criminal justice reform group FWD.us, which Mark Zuckerberg co-founded in 2013. This is the first year CZI has not funded the group, formalizing a separation that was discussed starting in late 2022 and finalized in April 2025. CZI’s chief of staff, Jordan Fox, also stepped down from FWD.us’s board this year, and the seat will not be filled by another CZI representative. The philanthropy, founded by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, stated it has fulfilled its foundational funding commitment as part of a pivot toward science, education, and local communities announced nearly five years ago. This change occurs amid Zuckerberg’s public engagements with former President Donald Trump, including Meta’s $1 million contribution to Trump’s inaugural fund.
The Pivot From Politics to GPUs
Here’s the thing: this isn’t a sudden breakup. The writing’s been on the wall since at least late 2022, when CZI started its big reframe. The organization is now almost entirely focused on scientific research and, notably, artificial intelligence. Back in November, Zuckerberg and Chan made that shift official. And the recruiting pitch? It’s not about changing the world through policy anymore. As Chan said in July, CZI has GPUs. Zuckerberg doubled down, saying researchers there don’t want more employees—they want more GPUs. So the mission has fundamentally changed from lobbying for immigration reform to chasing breakthroughs in bio labs and AI compute. The $450 million they announced for criminal justice and immigration reform years ago is clearly in the rearview mirror.
Zuckerberg’s Political Realignment
But you can’t look at this funding cut in a vacuum. It’s part of a much broader, very public realignment by Zuckerberg himself since Trump’s reelection. We’re talking multiple dinners with Trump, that million-dollar inaugural donation from Meta, and even policy reversals on Facebook and Instagram that pleased conservatives. Replacing third-party fact-checkers with community notes? Loosening hate speech rules? These were widely seen as olive branches to the new administration. So stepping back from funding a pro-immigration group—especially one he launched with a Washington Post op-ed arguing immigrants are key to the knowledge economy—fits the pattern perfectly. It’s a deprioritization of the social advocacy that defined his earlier philanthropic vision.
What It Means for Advocacy and Science
For FWD.us, losing CZI’s funding is a symbolic blow, but the group says its “pragmatic, bipartisan” mission hasn’t changed. The bigger question is what CZI gains. By going all-in on science and AI, they’re chasing hard, measurable outcomes—scientific papers, models, drug discoveries—instead of the messy, political trench warfare of advocacy. It’s a cleaner, less controversial focus, especially for a CEO who needs to navigate a tricky political landscape. Basically, funding a biology lab is less likely to draw fire from a Trump White House than funding an immigration lobby. And given the administration’s stance, famously shaped by advisors like Stephen Miller, that’s probably a calculated business and philanthropic decision. The era of Zuckerberg the advocate is over. The era of Zuckerberg the scientist and AI infrastructure builder is here.
