On a mission to transform insurance from a necessary evil to a social good! Read what our CFO Tim Bixby had to say on Bloomberg's CFO briefing. Thank you Nina Trentmann ⭐
Senior Editor at Bloomberg LP | Host of Bloomberg's CFO Briefing | Former WSJ Bureau Chief
OpenAI’s recent move to become a public benefit corporation raises questions. I explore some of them in the latest edition of Bloomberg’s CFO Briefing. Sign up: https://lnkd.in/eNvp3uYN > PBCs, as they are known, are for-profit companies whose fiduciary duty goes beyond maximizing shareholder value to include a legally binding and measurable commitment to a social, environmental or other cause that benefits the public. However, what constitutes a public benefit is described in such broad terms that it gives PBCs significant leeway to balance the goals of shareholders, other stakeholders and what they perceive to be the greater good. > Not surprisingly, companies’ descriptions of their public purpose tend to be lofty. OpenAI’s stated mission, for instance, is to “ensure that AGI benefits all of humanity,” referring to artificial general intelligence. Another PBC, the insurer Lemonade, wants to “make insurance into a social good.” > CFOs I spoke with about the topic said the advantages of the PBC structure outweigh the downsides, including the additional reporting requirements. While PBCs are required to report on how they are meeting their goals, academics warn that because there’s no effective enforcement mechanism, PBCs run the risk of “purpose washing.” > In the case of loss-making AI companies incorporating as PBCs, it remains to be seen whether the technology actually creates a public benefit. And if it triggers large-scale layoffs, structural unemployment and societal upheaval in the process, will it have been worth it? Read more from academics, lawyers and the CFOs of Lemonade, Planet and Veeva Systems here. Thank you to Michael Dorff, Tyler Whitmer, Tim Bixby, Ashley Fieglein Johnson, Brian Van Wagener, and, as always, Beth Williams Liou! https://lnkd.in/eEeVhSAu #AI #OpenAI #publicbenefitcorporation #purposewashing #pbc