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

A Google shareholder is pressuring the tech giant to change its worker policies in a longshot bid

A Google shareholder is pressuring the tech giant to change its worker policies in a longshot bid

Hannah Lucal, Open Mic's associate director, told Insider that it often tries to engage with companies directly on issues, but when that doesn't work out it will try to apply pressure through company shareholders. Recent internal blow-ups at Google have been red flags for how the company treats employees who raise concerns, she said.

"I think we're seeing a domino effect," Lucal said. "Over the past few years there have been so many stories coming out about how Google has retaliated against workers who speak up against ethical and human rights concerns."

Google pressed to conduct racial equity audit

Google pressed to conduct racial equity audit

Hannah Lucal, associate director at Open MIC, said the coverage of recent high profile Google dismissals, is just “the tip of the iceberg” and suggests there's “more institutional harm happening” that the public is unaware of.

“The proposal is saying, ‘can we have a third party, an independent party come in, and uncover the whole iceberg and understand and assess what is Google hiding? What is actually going on?’ Shareholders want to know, the public needs to know,” Lucal said.

Top proxy advisers urge Uber investors to approve proposal seeking lobbying disclosure

Top proxy advisers urge Uber investors to approve proposal seeking lobbying disclosure

Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC (Media and Information Companies Initiative), a nonprofit that works on socially responsible investing and shareholder engagement, told MarketWatch that recommendations by Glass Lewis and ISS, which advise many of the world’s largest asset managers, “are a big deal and can translate into an additional twenty percentage points or more in the final tabulation for a proposal.”

The San Francisco-based company’s investors are scheduled to vote on this and other proposals at the May 10 annual shareholder meeting.

Apple's new privacy feature will change the web. And not everyone is happy about it

Apple's new privacy feature will change the web. And not everyone is happy about it

"It's a big step. In the coming days, hundreds of millions of people will be made far more aware of the fact that they have the power to not be tracked," Michael Connor, executive director at not-for-profit Open MIC (Open Media and Information Companies Initiative), tells ZDNet.

"Apple exerts extraordinary influence on the mobile phone ecosystem, and this will set the bar for other apps. People will hopefully come to expect that opting in is a choice they have, rather than something that is inflicted."

Alphabet shareholder pushes Google for better whistleblower protections

Alphabet shareholder pushes Google for better whistleblower protections

Open MIC, a nonprofit that works with shareholders to advocate for greater corporate accountability and is helping to organize the proposal, says Mitchell’s firing may have been retaliatory. “The justification they use is ‘this person violated our data security work,’” says associate director Hannah Lucal. “It’s important to lift that up because they use trade secrets and data policy as an excuse for retaliating against worker organizers.”

Shareholder Proposal at Omnicom Questions Ad Buyers’ Role in Online Hate

Shareholder Proposal at Omnicom Questions Ad Buyers’ Role in Online Hate

“The ad buyers and the big ad agencies are typically behind the scenes, and yet they have an enormous amount of influence on what happens in the media environment, particularly on social media,” said Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, which stands for Open Media and Information Companies Initiative. “They are making recommendations and helping their clients manage billions of dollars in spending, and all too often they escape any kind of scrutiny for what they do.”

Investors Push Home Depot and Omnicom to Steer Ads From Misinformation

Investors Push Home Depot and Omnicom to Steer Ads From Misinformation

Shareholders in Home Depot and the advertising giant Omnicom have filed resolutions asking the companies to investigate whether the money they spent on advertisements may have helped spread hate speech and misinformation.

The resolutions were filed in November but were not made public until Monday. They were coordinated by Open MIC, a nonprofit group that works with shareholders at media and technology companies.

Shareholders call on big advertisers Omnicom and Home Depot to investigate whether Facebook, Google, and Twitter's ads fuel violence and hate speech

Shareholders call on big advertisers Omnicom and Home Depot to investigate whether Facebook, Google, and Twitter's ads fuel violence and hate speech

Facebook, Twitter, and Google have banned President Trump and accounts supporting QAnon and the "Stop the Steal" misinformation group while pausing political ads until after President-elect Biden's inauguration — but some interest groups want Omnicom and Home Depot to pressure them to go further…Nonprofit Open Mic led the efforts on behalf of The Nathan Cummings Foundation, which owns shares in Omnicom, and Myra K. Young, who owns shares in Home Depot.

Shareholders Fear Facebook, Other Social Media Ads May Inadvertently Fund Hate Speech, Violence

Shareholders Fear Facebook, Other Social Media Ads May Inadvertently Fund Hate Speech, Violence

The Open Media and Information Companies Initiative (Open MIC) is helping to lead the charge on two of the first-ever shareholder resolutions asking corporations with large ad budgets to reassess their social media advertising practices. The fear, according to these shareholders, is that the money spent on advertising may inadvertently be funding the spread of white supremacy, disinformation, voter suppression, government censorship, and calls to violence, among other concerns.

Omnicom, Home Depot Shareholders Seek Ad Policy Investigations

Omnicom, Home Depot Shareholders Seek Ad Policy Investigations

“Advertising is the lifeblood of social media,” said Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, a corporate accountability nonprofit that’s coordinating the shareholder actions. “The rampant abuse we’ve seen proliferate on social media is impossible without financial support from some of the biggest brands on the planet. They are in no small part responsible for these abuses, and they have the duty to stop them.”

Subscribe to Updates

* indicates required

Contact Us
media@openmic.org
(646) 470-7748


Connect on Social Media