ESG Investor
Audrey Mocle
Investors at War with Tech Firms on AI

The US military alone has more than 800 active AI-related projects and has requested almost US$2 billion in funding for AI in the 2024 budget.

“Any companies providing technologies to militaries that could be violating human rights or the laws of war run the risk of criminal indictments, sanctions, civil suits and considerable reputational damage,” said Audrey Mocle, Deputy Director of non-profit Open MIC.“The risks for investors in these tech firms increase as they become more enmeshed with the [weapons] sector.”

Investors at War with Tech Firms on AI
Tech Policy Press
Audrey Mocle
Artificial General Intelligence: What Are We ...

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.

Artificial General Intelligence: What Are We Investing In?
ESG Investor
Michael Connor
Investors Keep Tech Bros in Sights

US-based tech firms’ close ties with the Trump administration are unlikely to discourage continued pushback and engagement from ESG-focused investors in the longer term.

“Aligning with political leaders may seem expedient in the short-term, but tech company heads may regret going all in if these leaders’ popularity declines or their policies are seen to be capricious and harmful to people and markets,” - Jessica Dheere, Open MIC Advocacy Director

“While Trump will undoubtedly have an impact short-term, we think ESG principles will ultimately prevail because they represent a smart way of doing business.” - Michael Connor, Open MIC Executive Director

Investors Keep Tech Bros in Sights
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

Activists Slam Palantir for its Work with ICE Ahead of Market Debut

Activists Slam Palantir for its Work with ICE Ahead of Market Debut

“Essentially, what they're saying to investors is: Trust us. Yet they don't really provide a whole lot of information about how they're going to handle an enormous number of risks,” Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, a corporate accountability nonprofit that has also worked on shareholder campaigns targeting Amazon, Twitter, Facebook and Google, told me…“If you're an investor who believes that corporate accountability and corporate governance are important to companies' long-term success, Palantir makes it very clear that you should look somewhere else,” Connor says.

Significant Social and Governance Risks at Palantir

Significant Social and Governance Risks at Palantir

Michael Connor, Executive Director of Open MIC, a nonprofit that works with shareholders to foster corporate accountability in the tech sector, said, “Palantir boasts in its registration statement about its standards for protecting personal privacy, yet the company provides scant detail on how it intends to enforce ethical standards…The registration statement does not include details on any of its military, intelligence, or law enforcement contracts, a glaring omission considering the potential ethical questions at play. When it comes to privacy, Palantir has left shareholders - and millions of people who might be the subject of Palantir's surveillance technologies – completely in the dark.”

Spotlight on facial recognition after IBM, Amazon and Microsoft bans

Spotlight on facial recognition after IBM, Amazon and Microsoft bans

In its brief blog post, Amazon said it had “advocated governments should put in place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology, and in recent days, Congress appears ready to take on this challenge.

Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, a non-profit that works with shareholders to foster corporate accountability in the tech sector, welcomed the news after years of shareholders’ organising to push Amazon to end what was described as "sales of harmful, unregulated technology to police”.

“But it’s only a temporary moratorium, and it doesn’t address deeper concerns that shareholders have regarding Amazon’s role in a rapidly-developing surveillance economy,” he said.

Change the Terms Slams Facebook Executives’ “Colossal Failures”

Change the Terms Slams Facebook Executives’ “Colossal Failures”

Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, said: “Facebook’s problems can only be fixed by the company’s senior management and its board of directors. Hate speech and disinformation threaten the safety and rights of millions online, especially for people of color. As business leaders in a time of crisis, and with the 2020 elections not far off, Mr. Zuckerberg cannot avoid the inevitable. He needs to address these critical issues now.”

Shareholder human rights concerns at Facebook, Google and Twitter

Shareholder human rights concerns at Facebook, Google and Twitter

Twitter has just filed its proxy statement, with an annual meeting which is also an audio webcast, is also on 27 May, and is also at 10 am Pacific Time. But, for some reason, the human rights resolution did not appear as a voting matter, despite there being no challenges to it at the SEC. Indeed, according to Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, none of the companies challenged any of the resolutions, even the second one covering human rights at Facebook. It is not clear, at this time, why Twitter was able to exclude the resolution.

Shareholder Actions and Social Justice in Tech

Shareholder Actions and Social Justice in Tech

You’re right in that the whole COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of contacts and inquiries that are involved with surveillance of citizens. There is talk that the White House has been involved with various tech companies. And some of that may not be bad because technology can help address m any of the health issues involved with COVID-19, but—and it’s a big “but:” What we call the surveillance economy…that has been in the works for some time, and the government itself does not gather much of the data that people talk about. It is being gathered by private companies. It is being gathered by Facebook and Google and Twitter and these other companies, and one way or another the government accesses it. So the question is, “what are the rules and regulations involved in that?”

Privacy risks loom over Apple and Google's COVID-19 tracing tool

Privacy risks loom over Apple and Google's COVID-19 tracing tool

Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, a nonprofit organization that works with investors on media and technology issues, cautioned the service could open the door for tech companies and the government to glean additional sensitive information from users later on, including political beliefs, ethnicity and more. "What assurances do we have that contact tracing won't remain in place when the pandemic subsides?" Connor posed in emailed comments. Connor's organization and investment management firm Arjuna Capital recently filed a handful of proxy proposals directed at Google-parent Alphabet Inc., Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., asking the companies to establish director-level oversight on human and civil rights issues.

What’s the ‘Purpose of a Corporation’?

What’s the ‘Purpose of a Corporation’?

Amazon, during its May 2019 annual meeting, actively opposed each of the 15 shareholder proposals on the ballot, according to Michael Connor, Executive Director of Open MIC, a nonprofit that works with shareholders to foster corporate accountability in the tech and media sectors. One resolution asked for a report on the human rights risks of Amazon’s facial recognition technology. Amazon has refused to engage with shareholders on it, Connor told me.

People over profits: Reframing corporate responsibility for data breaches

People over profits: Reframing corporate responsibility for data breaches

“It’s been obvious to many stakeholders – including many shareholders – that achieving sustainable success in a 21st century corporation requires much more than blind devotion to short-term quarterly profits,” said Michael Connor, executive director of the Open Media and Information Companies Initiative (Open MIC), a group that works for greater corporate accountability at tech and media firms.

Facebook's humbling deal with the FTC is the biggest assault on Mark Zuckerberg's power in the firm's history

Facebook's humbling deal with the FTC is the biggest assault on Mark Zuckerberg's power in the firm's history

"It may not go as far as some people would like, but it certainly clips Mark's wings in a pretty significant way," said Michael Connor, who has helped coordinate Facebook shareholder action through Open MIC, which lobbies for better corporate governance.

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