FEBRUARY 24, 2026 – As tech giants spend hundreds of billions of dollars to compete with applications and hardware in an AI-induced arms race, shareholders are pressing one of the industry’s leaders to explain what can be done to mitigate the proliferation of AI-generated misinformation on the company’s platforms.
This webinar aims to help investors understand the risks related to AI and misinformation while exploring what they can do to press for more accountable corporate AI policies and practices. On the basis of those representations, the shareholder proposals were successfully withdrawn.
This webinar aims to help investors understand the risks related to AI and misinformation while exploring what they can do to press for more accountable corporate AI policies and practices.
Open MIC, a leader in the field of investor engagement on issues related to technology and society, today announced the appointment of Audrey Mocle as the organization’s Executive Director. Mocle has served as Deputy Director of Open MIC since 2022 and has worked with investors globally on a broad range of technology issues. She succeeds Michael Connor, who has led Open MIC since its founding in 2007.
Originally published in Tech Policy Press on March 24, 2025
The companies developing so-called artificial general intelligence (AGI) and their backers have been making two big promises: this new technology will yield huge financial returns and solve all of the world’s problems. Both claims should be viewed with skepticism, especially by investors.
Open MIC calls on Microsoft to provide a prompt explanation for the delays and a clear timeline for the release of the independent human rights report, one that allows investors sufficient time to refile if the report fails to meet expectations. Stakeholders and shareholders deserve transparency and accountability, and the timely publication of this report is crucial in evaluating Microsoft's commitment to upholding human rights principles.
This year, Amazon is facing an astonishing eighteen proposals from its own shareholders at its annual general meeting—a record number for any single company in a given year. The proposals—all of which the company opposes—call on Amazon to answer tough questions on a variety of technology impacts, labor practices, and corporate governance concerns.
Open MIC has submitted a shareholder proposal at Axon calling on the company to abandon its dangerous proposal to deploy AI-assisted drones equipped with TASERs in schools and other public environments. The proposal highlights a series of stunning governance failures from Axon’s leadership, exposing investors to unprecedented risks in flagrant disregard of the company’s own safeguards.
Open MIC has successfully withdrawn a shareholder proposal this month after extensive engagement with the Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) regarding its data broker subsidiary Acxiom, and specifically the company’s policies and practices regarding reproductive health data. The proposal was an attempt by shareholders to press IPG to release a report regarding Acxiom’s data privacy policies. In response to shareholder and Open MIC efforts, IPG has released a public statement that meets shareholder demands for greater public transparency.
Acxiom's data practices are a matter of public concern, especially in the wake of the Roe vs. Wade decision," said Michael Connor, Executive Director of Open MIC. "Access to reproductive healthcare is an internationally-recognized human right, and companies that help law enforcement to infringe on that right risk severe financial and reputational damage. We hope that Acxiom will work with us to ensure its data collection practices are aligned with the values and expectations of its shareholders."
A coalition of investor advocates led by Azzad Asset Management withdrew a shareholder proposal this month after reaching an agreement with Apple Inc. regarding the company’s plan to improve its transparency reports and specifically add clarity around the removal of applications from its app store in response to government requests.
Open MIC filed a public comment urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe new trade regulation rules concerning harmful commercial surveillance and data security practices. The comments come in response to the agency’s proposed rulemaking regarding commercial surveillance and lax data security practices.
Investor advocates have reached an agreement with Microsoft Corporation to withdraw a shareholder proposal requesting evaluation of the company’s lobbying activities, in consideration of a new commitment from Microsoft to advance its disclosures and value-alignment practices surrounding political engagement.
Open MIC, Heartland Initiative, and Access Now submitted comments urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is weighing rules and forming amendments on ESG practices, to help investors access accurate data about the ESG performance of the companies they back, in turn making more informed decisions.
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.
“The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson is a devastating blow to human and civil rights. It will be vitally important to support organizations and networks working to protect pregnant people and those who may become pregnant, especially in states where abortion healthcare is criminalized.
For technology companies, the decision raises immediate and essential concerns regarding data privacy, collection, retention, and sharing practices.
According to final voting numbers for Alphabet’s 2022 annual general meeting, approximately 64.3 percent of independent shareholders voted in favor of a third-party racial equity audit analyzing the company’s impacts on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. However the proposal failed to earn an overall majority due to the outsized voting power of Alphabet founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt: As Class B shareholders, your support or abstention has the power to make or break this popular and necessary investor-led advocacy. We urge you to uphold Alphabet’s principles and “do the right thing” by supporting proposal 9 for an independent racial equity audit.
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.
In a major victory for investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ruled that Meta - the parent company of Facebook and Instagram - must give investors an opportunity to consider and vote on a shareholder proposal that questions Meta’s ”social license to operate an emerging technology like the metaverse” without fully understanding the potential risks and negative impacts.
Earlier this week, the Nathan Cummings Foundation filed a shareholder proposal asking Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, to commission an independent racial equity audit “analyzing Alphabet Inc.’s adverse impacts on Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.”
In response to shareholder requests, Microsoft Corp. will commission an independent, third-party assessment to “identify, understand, assess, and address actual or potential adverse human rights impacts” of the company’s products, services and business relationships with regard to law enforcement, immigration enforcement, and other government contracts. The report will be made public in 2022.
