Apple and Microsoft hit with pioneering AI proposals

AI makes debut in shareholder resolutions at US tech and entertainment giants; anti-ESG filers return despite negligible support in 2023 proxy season.

By Paul Varney, October 31, 2023

Investors have filed the first shareholder resolutions on the topic of artificial intelligence (AI), with six US companies across the tech and entertainment sectors being hit with filings. 

Arjuna Capital is behind one at Microsoft, which in January entered into a “multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment” with open AI, the home of ChatGPT, extending investments it made in 2019 and 2021. 

Last week, the Financial Times reported that Microsoft’s early investment in generative AI was paying off, with revenue in its Intelligent Cloud unit jumping a reported 19% in three months to 30 September.

The US activist investor is now calling on the company to report on how it is managing financial risks and those to “public welfare” that may arise from its “role in facilitating misinformation and disinformation disseminated or generated via artificial intelligence”.

Arjuna Capital is co-founder and managing partner Natasha Lamb told Responsible Investor that Microsoft is one of several technology stocks and its portfolio it will begin engaging with on the issue.

Given that 2024 is an election year in the US, she added, “we are acutely aware of the risks that disinformation and misinformation posed to our democratic process”.

Misinformation is a topic Arjuna Capital has engaged on for several years with social media firms, but the emergence of AI has raised new questions as to where the responsibility lies.

“Social media companies have been able to hide behind section 230, arguing that harmful content is generated by users – but with generative AI, the content is being created by the technology itself,” said Lamb. “So who’s left holding the bag when something goes wrong? Investors?”

She added: “there are more questions around AI than there are answers, which is why, as investors, were concerned. I expect more and more investors will be seeking clarity on how AI is ethically governed.”

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