ESG Investor
Michael Connor
Keeping up with AI

With AI-related risks being inherently global in nature, the hope and anticipation is that there will be a suitably robust regulatory environment wherever the technology is deployed, Michael Connor, Executive Director at Open MIC, tells ESG Investor.

“Many companies have global activities, so we need to ensure that if they are applying a higher standard in Europe due to EU regulations, this should be the case wherever they operate to foster greater corporate accountability in the deployment and use of digital technologies,” he says.

Keeping up with AI

Protocol

ESG’s dual-shareholder problem

ESG’s dual-shareholder problem

Record ESG proposals are being fueled by a more shareholder-friendly SEC regime and growing awareness of shareholder engagement tools, according to Michael Connor, the executive director of Open Mic, an organization that works with institutional investors to file social impact shareholder proposals targeting Big Tech. Companies usually try to block shareholder resolutions through legal challenges, but “right now, the folks who make those decisions at the SEC are more favorably inclined toward shareholder resolutions,” Connor told Protocol.

Working with the military is lucrative. For enterprise AI companies, it’s also a minefield.

Working with the military is lucrative. For enterprise AI companies, it’s also a minefield.

“Reputational harm can be quite considerable” when AI tech providers work with the military, said Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, a nonprofit that has helped shareholders pressure tech companies including Microsoft and Amazon to establish ethical practices.

But these issues are complicated, Connor said. Because AI is used even for basic administrative purposes like automating invoices, it is important to consider DoD contracts with AI vendors on a case-by-case basis, he said.

These nuns could force Microsoft to put its money where its mouth is

These nuns could force Microsoft to put its money where its mouth is

"What we see is the company generally portrays itself as privacy-friendly, and yet we see that it is, in many cases, lobbying against those same principles," said Michael Connor, executive director of Open Mic, a nonprofit group that uses shareholder proposals to force corporate accountability.

Open Mic worked with shareholders on this and other proposals, one of which has already been successfully withdrawn by the filers. That proposal also called for Microsoft to conduct a human rights impact assessment related to its government contracts. Microsoft took shareholders up on that offer before the proposal even went to a vote.

Microsoft will review its government contracts, bowing to investor pressure

Microsoft will review its government contracts, bowing to investor pressure

Open Mic has coordinated a range of activist shareholder proposals at large tech companies that try to force the companies to address questions about the ethical use of technology and how workers are treated internally. The original Microsoft shareholder proposal from Open Mic aimed to force the company to hire an independent third-party to evaluate whether Microsoft's contracts with government agencies comply with the company's stated commitment to human rights principles.

Annual shareholder meetings: A new battlefront for tech workers

Annual shareholder meetings: A new battlefront for tech workers

To Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, a nonprofit that works with sustainable funds to organize shareholder proposals, that's a sign that things are trending in the right direction. "Over time even if shareholder proposals are voted down, it doesn't mean directors don't have a fiduciary duty to worry about those issues and be concerned about them," Connor said.

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