Nvidia and Other Tech Giants Submit AI Risk Reports to SEC to Avoid Litigation Targets
Bloomberg reported that several tech giants, including Microsoft, Google, and Nvidia, have submitted risk reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the field of artificial intelligence. The purpose is to warn their investors about potential issues and to avoid legal actions from shareholders in case problems arise.
The report pointed out that dozens of tech companies have issued or updated AI-related risk warnings in their financial reports and submitted them to the SEC. They emphasize that despite the rapid development of AI, companies in this sector may face potential regulatory or litigation challenges, leading to poor financial performance and losses for investors.
Companies that have submitted warnings include Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, Meta, Adobe, Dell, Oracle, and Uber. Specific warnings highlighted by each company are as follows:
Meta: Concerns about AI being used to create false information during elections to confuse users.
Microsoft: Potential copyright claims related to AI training and content output.
Alphabet: Negative impacts of AI tools on human rights, privacy, employment, or other social issues, leading to lawsuits or financial losses.
Adobe: Disruption in the labor market due to AI proliferation and changing demands for existing software like Photoshop.
Nvidia: Worries that AI abuse may lead to restrictions on its products in various countries.
In fact, Microsoft is currently facing a lawsuit from The New York Times for allegedly illegally using its newspaper content without permission in collaboration with OpenAI for profit, potentially facing claims amounting to billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, Google is investigating whether OpenAI improperly used YouTube content for its product training, stressing that even the company itself must adhere to its terms of service.
The intent behind submitting these risk reports is to inform their investors and describe potential issues in order to prevent shareholders from suing the companies in case of investment losses. Companies tend to follow the risk disclosure practices of their peers to avoid becoming targets of shareholder lawsuits if they fail to disclose risks that others in the industry have already disclosed.
As Nvidia stated, its chips have become a bargaining chip in the U.S.-China power struggle, with President Biden having previously imposed restrictions on chip exports to China through executive orders.
Last week, the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan issued guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence in the financial industry, providing guidance on risk management and customer privacy protection.
Despite AI risk concerns, the aforementioned companies are accelerating their investments in the AI field to stay competitive with their peers. Just days ago, Meta posted a job opening for a Generative AI (GenAI) team, while Nvidia unveiled its latest supercomputer architecture, Blackwell, dedicated to large-scale AI computing applications at COMPUTEX 2024.
