Open MIC and ICCR recently collaborated to release “Dehumanization, Discrimination and Deskilling: The Impact of Digital Tech on Low-Wage Workers.” The investor brief explores how surveillance tech, algorithmic management systems, displacement by AI and automated hiring tools contribute to increased workplace discrimination, diminished autonomy, and reduced job quality.
Encouraged by strong votes at AI companies, as well as Microsoft’s inaugural Responsible AI Transparency Report, Open MIC and partners seek to build momentum for more disclosure and remediation of AI risks.
Investors in Meta Inc. and Alphabet Inc. used votes at their recent annual meetings to highlight serious concerns about the deployment of generative artificial intelligence (gAI) technology and its potential to generate harmful disinformation and misinformation. A shareholder proposal at Meta won 56.3% of the independent shareholder vote, while a similar proposal at Alphabet won 45.7% of the independent shareholder vote.
At Meta’s annual meeting last week, a majority of independent shareholders (53.6%), representing $635 billion in market cap, voted in favor of a proposition demanding more disclosure of the costs and risks associated with the development and deployment of generative AI products. Alphabet shareholders will vote on a similar resolution this Friday.
Over the next two weeks, shareholders at Meta and Alphabet will vote on first-time resolutions calling for more disclosure on the costs and risks of generative AI to the company and society, and on how the companies are mitigating those risks. To date, neither company reports on how well it adheres to the promises it makes with regard to AI, a trend with a long precedent in the social media era.
Open MIC partnered with a group of organizations including Earthseed, Whistle Stop Capital, and the Minderoo Foundation to form the Transparency in Employment Agreements (TEA) coalition during the 2021-2022 proxy season. Our goal was to end Big Tech’s use of concealment agreements as a means to silence employees who’ve experienced harassment, discrimination, or other unlawful behavior.
Salesforce, a leading provider of cloud-based software, announced today that it plans to adopt the principles of a shareholder proposal filed by Whistle Stop Capital regarding the company’s use of concealment clauses in employment agreements and will extend the protections of California’s Silenced No More Act to all U.S. employees. In light of this news, shareholders have successfully withdrawn their proposal.
