Investors are best positioned to undertake this examination, and some have begun to do so. Trillium Asset Management and Zevin Asset Management have filed a shareholder resolution at Alphabet calling on the firm to disclose additional information illustrating if and how it will meet its 2030 climate goals in light of its aggressive AI infrastructure expansion plans. As You Sow filed a similar resolution at Meta. Andrea Ranger, Trillium’s Director of Shareholder Advocacy, warns that “Given the economywide risk from unabated emissions, Alphabet’s climate ambitions and actions reflect the urgency of the moment. Enhancing transparency may give investors confidence that it addresses the full suite of risks it faces.”
Other questions investors should be asking include:
What are AGI-adjacent company valuations based on? What are their plans for profitability?
How is this new technology being governed internally? Who has oversight over its risks — financial and social — and how are they measuring and disclosing them to investors?
What due diligence is being done on dual-use AGI? Is there end-user due diligence being undertaken?
How are companies accounting for the carbon emissions of their AI infrastructure? Does this accounting include emissions from partnerships and equity investments?
Investors, particularly those with stakes in the big tech hyperscalers and limited partnerships in venture funds exposed to generative AI, should be critical of overselling the benefits of this new technology — financial or otherwise. Efforts should be made to encourage the deployment of this technology toward more productive ends. Any actual benefits should be weighed against the very real costs for which tech companies should be held accountable.
