Major UK investors in Apple have called on the tech giant to publish transparency reports about its use of AI and associated risk management.
Scottish asset manager Abrdn and London’s Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) are planning to back a resolution for the company to disclose information about the ethics and usage of its AI technology.
The Sunday Times first reported the firms planned to raise the issue at the upcoming shareholder meeting this week. It comes amid broader growing concerns about AI being used to create harmful deepfakes.
“Apple is among several companies that have an outsized influence on the integration of AI into our economy,” said LGIM.
“We believe companies like Apple should be transparent in their uses of AI and their risk management processes.”
LGIM is among the largest 25 stakeholders in the Big Tech firm.
Abrdn’s head of active ownership, Andrew Mason, said: “Apple is exposed to various risks associated with the use of AI and the requested disclosure, including ethical guidelines, could provide shareholders with robust evidence of due diligence and safeguards that can protect long-term value.”
The resolution was first filed by the US union federation AFL-CIO. The resolution said: “AI may be used in ways that violate the privacy of customers and members of the public.
“AI may be used to generate deep fake media content that may result in the dissemination of false information in political elections.”
Apple previously attempted to exclude the resolution from the annual shareholders meeting, though was prevented from doing so by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Apple, in a notice for the shareholder meeting, said: “We are committed to responsibly advancing our products and services that use artificial intelligence and already provide resources and transparency to our approach to artificial intelligence and machine learning, all under the active oversight of our board.”