The news: Canadian non-profit organization Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), on behalf of the pension plan of the United Church of Canada, had called on Shopify to pledge that it will respect human rights and align with international standards when using AI. At Shopify’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, shareholders voted to reject the proposal.
In Canada, shareholders must own at least one percent (or at least $2,000) of the company to bring a proposal forward.
From the source: Shopify’s board had previously warned against the proposal, calling it a “solution in search of a problem” in an opposing statement filed on May 8.
“SHARE is applying a generic AI policy template across public companies with no regard for what those companies actually do or how they operate,” the board wrote.
Following the thread: SHARE was expecting this result, the group told BetaKit in an email, since Shopify has a dual-class share structure—where Class B shares can give founders, executives, and early investors stronger voting power compared to retail investors. In 2022, the company approved 40-percent voting power for co-founder and CEO Tobi Lütke through a special “founder share,” in addition to his Class B shares.
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Under Lütke’s leadership, the Ottawa e-commerce giant has become an AI-first company: it’s building tools for shopping within AI chatbots, and employees’ AI usage is encouraged and evaluated.
Final thought: Responsible AI-related shareholder proposals have grown more common, but few have resulted in meaningful action. In Canada, Québec investor rights group MÉDAC urged 14 Canadian companies—including big banks and grocery chains—to sign the federal government’s AI code of conduct, per The Canadian Press, and the proposals were voted down in nine instances. In other instances, including with the Power Corporation of Canada, MÉDAC withdrew its proposal after discussing it with the companies.
Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.
Feature image courtesy Flicker. Image by Grid Engine. Shared under creative commons license CC0 1.0.