Priscilla Chan Shares Tech Pursuits and Home Rules for 10-Year-Old Daughter

Priscilla Chan recently discussed the technological explorations of her eldest daughter, 10-year-old Maxima, noting that the young tech enthusiast has begun building software through artificial intelligence tools and natural language prompts, a process often referred to as vibe-coding. Alongside her husband, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Chan encourages her children to engage with technology and bring creative ideas into reality.

Despite supporting these creative endeavors, Chan maintains strict guidelines regarding how her children interact with the digital world. In a recent interview, she revealed that Maxima is not permitted to develop projects that have access to the open internet. This restriction notably vetoed an ambitious project the youngster wished to undertake. "She's quite limited, because Mom doesn't let her build things that are open to the internet. Like, she wanted to build a dating site. That was a no," Chan stated.

Chan emphasized that her daughter's enthusiasm for building things is entirely self-driven. "She just has a desire to build things that is innate, that we didn't teach her. It just came. She's delighted by the idea of bringing something into the world," Chan explained. Maxima's technological portfolio reportedly includes messaging applications, GeoCities-style platforms, and a FarmVille-inspired game complete with custom marketing and sales strategies.

The family's household features an environment heavily integrated with practical learning tools. Mark Zuckerberg has previously detailed how he introduced his children to foundational programming using Scratch, a platform allowing young learners to construct interactive stories, games, and animations with visual blocks. The children have also experimented with Replit, Google Docs, Kano, 3D printing, and robotics.

Physical computing and artificial intelligence are also regular fixtures in their home activities. Zuckerberg has shared that he enjoys building robots alongside his daughters, utilizing Raspberry Pi and Nvidia Jetson hardware to run language models. These hands-on projects allow the children to explore the intersection of hardware engineering and artificial intelligence.

The couple's younger children are similarly active in digital and creative projects. Their second daughter, August, frequently engages with Minecraft and Scratch, and recently authored a book titled The Mermaid Crystal. For that project, August utilized Meta AI to generate both visual illustrations and a promotional video trailer, blending traditional storytelling concepts with generative technology.

These activities align with the broader parenting philosophy practiced by Zuckerberg and Chan, who have committed to distributing the vast majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes rather than passing substantial inheritances to their three daughters. Through organizations like the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the family aims to balance significant financial resources with structured responsibilities, hands-on education, and personal accountability.