The JUST Report: Investors Must Get Up The Curve On AI Risks And Opportunities

Last week, JUST Capital co-hosted a virtual event with the Investor Leadership Network (ILN) on AI Safety and Global Finance Markets. The event featured a presentation from Tristan Harris, Co-Founder of the Center for Humane Technology, on the benefits and threats generative AI presents both to society and global financial institutions. 

The conversation ranged from how AI can help humankind address some of our greatest economic challenges, to the potential for financial disinformation and disruption, threats to election integrity and democracy, and society’s ability to handle the shift from deep fakes to ‘deep realities’. What it means for corporations and investors was the central theme, and all agreed on the need for market participants to get up to speed quickly in order to better understand the impact of AI on the investment landscape of tomorrow.  

Government action is clearly important. The EU recently passed its AI Act, which classifies AI into various risk categories and obliges businesses to take appropriate measures. Japan is reportedly considering regulation on developers of large-scale AI systems “to address disinformation and other risks.” Biden’s executive order on AI, issued in October, sets standards on security and privacy protections. But for responsible, beneficial AI practices to really take root the private sector – and particularly the investment community – must lead.

In the early 2000s, I was fortunate enough to be involved in some of the initial groundbreaking work that brought climate risks forward to the global investor community as a matter of significant financial relevance. This feels similar, but even more urgent.

If you’d like to support our JUST AI work, please reach out.

Be well,

Martin 

Quote of the Week 

“As a fiduciary, politics should never outweigh performance, especially for taxpayers.”

• A BlackRock spokesperson said in a statement to reporters following the Texas school fund pulling $8.5B in BlackRock contracts over ESG concerns over a 2021 Texas law that restricts investments with companies engaging in so-called “boycotts of the fossil fuels industry. 

JUST In the News

Board Member Alan H.H. Fleischman pens an op-ed for Time Magazine on the importance of CEO statesmanship. As he puts it, “the idea that private sector leaders can use their platforms to sway public opinion, inspire action, and mobilize resources in ways that few others can. Read the full piece here. 

JUST Capital CEO Martin Whitaker and Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, sit down for a fireside chat at Intel’s Sustainability Summit.

JUST AI

With companies racing to add “AI” to their growing list of services, the SEC has already had to fine several companies for misleading marketing statements on their AI capabilities. 

The U.N. is set to vote on its first resolution on artificial intelligence, aimed at ensuring the technology benefits all nations, respects human rights and is “safe, secure and trustworthy,” NBC reports. 

Must Reads

The chairman of the Texas State Board of Education delivered notice to BlackRock that the state’s $53 billion fund for schools would be terminating the firm’s management of some $8.5 billion in assets. The Texas entity said it was doing so to comply with the 2021 Texas law that restricts investments with companies engaging in so-called “boycotts of the fossil fuels industry,” Bloomberg reports. 

Financial services firm Morningstar launches indexes on companies’ transition to a low carbon economy. Companies are given equal weight for their current carbon intensity and their low carbon transition rating management score, ESG Dive reports. 

Yahoo Finance reports that Oxfam’s latest research finds only 10 of top 200 US public companies publicly support a living wage, while four have CEO-worker pay ratios over 1500:1. For additional insights on living wages, explore our research here. 

Washington Post chronicles all the ways COVID-19 changed the economy in 11 charts. 

Fortune takes a close look at the tax loopholes that allow companies like Netflix, Tesla, Ford, to pay their C-suite more than their companies pay in taxes. 

Fox Business reports that Uber and Lyft are leaving Minneoplis on May 1st due to recently passed legislation to raise the per-mile fee for drivers in an attempt to increase their base wages. 

Chart of the Week

This chart of the week comes from The Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema and Stagwell’s Vice Chair Ray Day’s op-ed in Fast Company discussing a National Association of Corporate Directors Survey that listed “increased political polarization” among boards’ top issues over the next 12 months. In a separate Harris Poll survey, 58% of American workers said political polarization is a significant problem in their company today, and 79% say it’s negatively affecting business operations.