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Apple diversity policies and OpenAI association will be criticized by conservative organizations at its annual shareholders meeting, since the iPhone manufacturer appears against corporate activism after the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.
Investors in the company of $ 3.7TN will vote on Tuesday on a motion from the National Public Policies Research Center trying to force Apple to discard their diversity, equity and inclusion policies (DEI). The non -profit conservative group argues that the recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court around Dei’s policies leave the company exposed to possible demands.
A separate shareholder resolution requires a report on how Apple Ensures an “ethical” artificial intelligence strategy. The proposal warns that the Apple Association with OpenAI could create privacy risks and data privacy security.
The vote on the two shareholders proposals occurs when the agreements in the space of AI are under the bipartisan scrutiny, and when corporate partners such as Meta and Google eliminate progressive policies as they make proposals to the new administration of the states Joined.
Apple opposes both movements. They are unlikely to pass, largely because their greatest shareholders, Blackrock and Vanguard have distanced themselves from the activism of political shareholders.
Such movements can have a blow effect. In January, Costco’s shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a similar NCPPR proposal. Nineteen general prosecutors of the Republican State wrote to the company urging him to end policies.
Apple executive director, Tim Cook, has Trump courted For many years and appeared prominently at its inauguration. The company is exposed to political tensions between Washington and Beijing, and the large technological companies also expect the president to force the EU to retreat in the regulatory application.
The motion of the NCPPR on Tuesday is aimed at the “Apple supplier diversity program, its general promotion and hiring practices, employment of a vice president of inclusion and diversity, and donations to organizations that support Dei.
The iPhone board said the proposal “inappropriately tries to restrict Apple’s ability to manage its own ordinary commercial operations, people and commercial equipment and strategies.”
Meta, Google, Amazon, Walmart, McDonald’s and Target are among US companies that have delayed Dei’s policies against the hostility of the Trump administration and a emboldened conservative movement.
While shareholders’ proposals are not binding, they can force companies to respond to political issues. In 2022, an Apple proposal asks for a racial capital audit approved with the support of the majority shareholders, which leads the company to publish new disseminations of diversity.
Meanwhile, Shareholders’ motion aimed at Apple’s relationship with Openai’s criticism echoes Trump’s criticism for Trump’s cost reduction tsar Elon Musk, who is also an antagonist of the executive director of the start-up Sam Altman.
If the data collected by Operai violates personal privacy or copyright material, then it could be a risk for Apple shareholders, said the National Center for Legal and Political Policies in its request.
“The proposal does not focus on any problem with Apple Intelligence,” said Apple’s Board referring to its new AI functions for mobile devices, in a presentation last month in response to the motion. “On the other hand, he focuses his criticism in OpenAI, the Chatgpt developer, an independent service to which Apple users can choose access.”
In December, Microsoft faced three Shareholders’ proposals related to AI at its annual meeting. None passed, but one filed by the NLPC which is similar to Apple’s proposal received 36 % support from Microsoft shareholders.
The Seattle -based technological giant was sued in January for allegedly revealing information from the LinkedIn client, one of its subsidiaries, to train AI programs. The NLPC said the demand shows “we have been proven well.”
It is likely that NLPC’s Apple proposal in front of the skepticism of investors, said Jamie Bonham, head of administration of the Nei Investments asset manager, which has about $ 12.5 billion under administration.
Apple, he said, has no history of privacy problems like some of his rivals. “I don’t know if Apple specifically is the appropriate goal for it,” Bonham said about AI’s proposal, but added that he has not decided how the company will vote in the AGM.
Additional reports by Cristina Criddle in San Francisco