Apple plans to showcase multiple new artificial intelligence features at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Apple’s major shareholders look set to prod the firm into opening up about how it uses artificial intelligence (AI). It occurred at the company’s annual general meeting when investors with substantial stakes in the company argued for greater transparency, which does not seem to be Apple’s biggest forte.
Investors forcing Apple to unravel ethical guidelines for AI
The AFL-CIO proposal demands that Apple should reveal its use of AI and any ethical guidelines dictating its implementation. According to Financial Times, notable backers of this move include Norges Bank Investment Management and Legal & General, both of whom are Apple’s eighth and tenth largest shareholders respectively.
In voting disclosures, Norges Bank, which runs the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, stressed that Apple’s board should consider the “social consequences of its operations and products”. Legal & General also criticized Apple for not disclosing its approach to managing risks associated with AI, which will ultimately lead to negative publicity.
Another source reporting on the subject revealed details about another meeting between Legal & General and Apple to discuss AI. But to no avail, the tech firm refused to become more transparent. Legal & General argues that Apple needs to be more forthright about its AI applications and risk management processes.
Apple’s pushback on the resolution
The company’s own investor advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services, prompts Apple to support the resolution. They are objecting to Apple’s existing guidelines for not being specific about risks that could result from AI use, thus raising questions about shareholders’ capacity to correctly assess them.
Apple however is trying hard to convince its investors not to vote for the resolution arguing that it is too broad and would reveal sensitive plans and initiatives thus causing harm to the company’s competitive position. However, with over 30% of investors supporting these non-binding petitions in the U.S., they can exert enough pressure on the firm.
2024-02-28 15:06:50