Apple has been infamously tight-lipped regarding its AI plan, yet one shareholder movement might force it to finally reveal its plans.
As initially reported by the Financial Times, Norges Bank Investment Management and Legal & General, which are two of the biggest Apple shareholders, are backing a proposal from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) that could force Apple to announce its plans for AI.
According to the Financial Times report, Legal & General has requested this information from Apple, stating “We met with the company to discuss these topics, and it did not commit to increasing transparency and disclosures around AI at this time”. In response to Apple's failure to disclose its AI plans, Legal & General said "Apple should be transparent in their uses of AI and their risk management processes." Revealing its AI plans publicly could have the potential to harm Apple’s image and might remove any novelty that comes with unique selling points but this push for transparency makes some sense for major shareholders.
Why do shareholders want Apple to reveal its AI plans?
Shareholders’ continued investment in Apple is likely contingent on the company’s future plans and its AI strategy holds a certain risk as it is one of the major places that phones set themselves apart right now. Our friends over at TechRadar praised some of the Galaxy S24’s new AI features and, with new phones focusing on AI functions like image processing, wallpaper creation, and translating, Apple needs to implement a suitable response with the iPhone 16, anticipated to be the best iPhone when it launches.
It’s important to note that there are potential downsides to Apple revealing its AI plans. As well as removing the “wow factor” of a reveal at the September Apple event, it risks competitors learning and taking advantage of potential flaws or holes in its AI plan.
In response to the shareholder pressure to get Apple to reveal its AI plans, the company has said “the scope of the requested report is overly broad and could encompass disclosure of strategic plans and initiatives harmful to our competitive position.” With the shareholder meeting set to take place tomorrow, we will know much more about this potential proposal by then.
