Microsoft shareholders have rejected a resolution that called on the company to address the risks associated with deploying advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), in the fossil fuel industry.
The resolution was brought by environmental nonprofit As You Sow on behalf of Microsoft shareholders Will and Holly Alpine. It called for Microsoft to look at the potential risks its long-term operations, financial stability, and reputation caused by the use of its AI products to support high carbon emitting projects.
According to Will Alpine, “Microsoft often points to its Responsible AI and Energy Principles in response to scrutiny. However, its Responsible AI principles do not address environmental harms, and its Energy Principles fail to evaluate the integrity of fossil fuel companies.’”
The nonprofit filed the complaint in October, accusing Microsoft of “hypocrisy” for styling itself as a “first mover” on climate change while targeting fossil fuels as AI's most significant growth opportunity.
The filing also asserted that Microsoft is “selectively reporting on the climate-positive applications of advanced technologies while omitting the climate-related risks of deploying advanced technologies to increase the extraction of fossil fuels.”
In a proxy statement before the virtual meeting, the Microsoft board of directors recommended a vote against the proposal to commission a report on the risks of using advanced technology, including AI and machine learning tools, to facilitate new oil and gas development and production.
The board argued that the additional reporting requested “would focus on a narrow customer segment outside the approach of the global climate reporting standards we follow and is also unnecessary given Microsoft’s existing disclosure of our approach to working with customers in the energy sector.”
The company also claimed that it has already considered many of the concerns raised in the proposal, limiting the need for a further report.
In addition, Microsft investors turned down five other proposals, two on the risks of AI and three on the potential benefits of Bitcoin, the impact of the company’s technology on human rights, and its role in military applications.
According to the company, detailed voting results are expected to be made public within four days.
Microsoft isn't the only technology giant accused of greenwashing. Google admitted that its operations last year resulted in a 13 percent increase in greenhouse gases and can no longer claim to be carbon neutral.
In addition, Amazon has claimed that by “purchasing additional environmental attributes (such as renewable energy credits) to signal our support for renewable energy,” it is hitting clean energy targets.
However, Amazon's Employees for Climate Justice body has calculated that 78 percent of the energy Amazon consumes in the US still comes from “nonrenewable sources.”
