Open MIC

“Building is my love language,” says Zuckerberg’s T-shirt. Apparently, it's not Wall Street's. Meta stocks still down since last week's 6% drop 👇 https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-10-22-2026/card/meta-shares-slide-6-on-spending-commitments-Pk2PBh2EfhfLzuX0hMQI

Meta is going even farther to avoid investor oversight, making it easier for a handful of people (like Zuck) to get away with bad decisions and real-world harms. https://www.ft.com/content/b34502b6-38dc-4a46-a8e7-d9131726cd31

Meta already has dual-class shares, giving Zuckerberg and a few others 10x the voting power of a normal shareholder. This move pushes the company farther away from accountability and more into a "founder king" structure.

openmic.orgInvestor Brief: The Case Against Multi-Class Share Structures for AI — Open MICMAY 20, 2026 – Open MIC has released a new investor brief examining the governance implications of IPO structures in emerging technology companies, with a focus on the use of multi-class share st...

AI is too consequential a technology to be governed by a small number of “founder kings” with no accountability to investors or the public. Check out our investor brief on this issue: www.openmic.org/news/investo...

theatlantic.comThere’s No Such Thing as an AI ‘Lab’The term lends an air of scientific rigor to what are really billion-dollar corporations.

Knowing who's responsible for AI harms is a huge step in making and enforcing laws. Deb Raji ( @rajiinio.bsky.social ) makes the case for AI policy that focuses on the logistics of enforcement. https://hai.stanford.edu/news/who-is-responsible-when-ai-causes-harm

Open MIC reposted

Data & Society

@datasociety.bsky.social

AI companies are “industry-defining corporations reshaping our workplaces, our schools, our communities. Holding them accountable could start with calling them out for what they are — and what they aren’t,” Matthew Sun writes. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

What they want is to have the access to outside capital of a public company, but the control of a private company.” -Corp. governance expert & film critic @nellminow.bsky.social poses a key question for Paramount/Warner Bros investors moving toward the merger: Who can you trust with your money?

In Minow's remarks: • Public markets depend on investors having confidence that those entrusted with their capital will protect their interests. • Boards have fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders intended to provide critical protections against conflicts of interest.

• Paramount Skydance is using—and creating—loopholes that weaken those protections. • The result could give insiders the benefits of public capital while retaining the control associated with a private company.

If the merger does go ahead (Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison wants to list the merged company on NYSE by early October) shareholders will face a top-heavy governance structure that effectively shuts them out of the decision-making process.

theguardian.comAnthropic ‘warns of existential AI risks to humanity’ in IPO documentReported admission to investors of AI’s ‘self-preserving behaviours’ comes as company prepares for a potential $2tn flotation

Is this the first time an IPO includes a disclaimer that the company's products may pose an existential risk to humanity? 🤔 #anthropicipo https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/29/anthropic-warns-existential-ai-risks-humanity-ipo-document-claude

Jenson Huang's talk with Ezra Klein of the NYT reveals a lack of concern over the effects of data centers on communities – and what that friction could mean for the companies' shareholders. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jensen-huang.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share

Jensen Huang touts data centers as huge moneymakers ($40-50 billion/ year in rents after a $50 billion investment), but he suggests that the builders can win over local communities by renovating roads, schools, and parks, and reminding people that their property taxes will be lower.

But in reality, community opposition to data centers creates uncertainty that ripples across tech sectors, and the spike in energy demand could have far-reaching effects on the economy. AI hyperscalers like Nvidia must offer more than pothole filler.

“Journalism is a product and government interference is going to make the product worse.” For @trevortimm.bsky.social of @freedom.press, the Paramount-Warner Bros merger could be disastrous for independent journalism. 📽️ 👇

Speaking at our Investor Briefing on the topic of the merger, Timm argues: • Defending journalists’ First Amendment rights is both a matter of principle and good business. • Government interference in journalism can damage a media company’s product, reputation and value.

@freedom.press is serving as co-counsel in a shareholder lawsuit that contends reported dealings involving the Ellisons and President Trump expose the company to potential liability, reputational damage and loss of key personnel.

As just one example, the fate of CNN is closely tied to the merger: the network Trump often rails against would be owned by one of this allies. Recently, the merger took a step forward as a group of states that sued to stop the merger agreed to settlement terms proposed by Paramount ownership.

Companies are delaying their IPOs due to negative investor sentiment towards data centers. While tech giants like Meta and Oracle plan to spend trillions on their own data-center infrastructure, their smaller partners like SB Energy and Holtec are stalled without support from Wall Street.

nytimes.comWall Street Is Growing Skeptical of the Data Center BoomSeveral companies tied to the data center industry have delayed their initial public offerings amid the increasing public backlash to these energy guzzling facilities.

This is a unique example of investors' influence over real-world company policies, and is a rare obstacle to the unchecked growth of the AI industry. More from Maureen Farrell via New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/21/b...

17 Sept

“It just takes one successful challenge in those six markets. That's all it takes to stop this deal. So in other words, you need to win six rounds of sudden death penalty kicks.” @bedoyausa.bsky.social describes the legal challenges facing the proposed Paramount–Warner Brothers merger

17 Sept

In his remarks, Bedoya argues: • The companies face legal challenges involving multiple distinct markets • Clearing those hurdles would require prevailing repeatedly • A separate shareholder lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court adds another dimension to the legal risk

newrepublic.comThere’s a Blue-Collar Hollywood—and the Paramount Merger Will Kill ItHollywood isn’t all glamour. It’s thousands of line workers. And a Paramount takeover of Warner will make their lives even more precarious.

17 Sept

More detail in Bedoya's article in @newrepublic.com: newrepublic.com/article/2136...

“Even before this merger was announced, our industry was already in a crisis.” @markruffalo.bsky.social on what the Paramount/Skydance + Warner Bros. merger could mean for the entertainment industry, and why investors should be asking questions. Watch an excerpt here 📹 ⬇️ youtu.be/pQUt7jZVPIM

• Los Angeles County lost 42,000 entertainment industry jobs between 2022 and 2024, while the Writers Guild documented the loss of 1,319 television writing jobs in a single season.

• Investors, as stewards of the companies they invest in, should be asking whether the deal is good not only for the media industry and its workforce, but for shareholders themselves.

Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo joined the Investor Briefing on Paramount Skydance and Warner Brothers, hosted by @openmicmedia.bsky.social and @iccr.bsky.social, on 7/29/2026. Among the concerns he raised 🧵⬇️

• Entertainment industry job losses are already significant, as production moves overseas and AI becomes increasingly capable of replacing human labor.

8 Sept

We're getting ready for the Emerging Markets Investors' Alliance Sustainability and Governance Conference--less than a week away. Open MIC Executive Director Audrey Mocle will take part in the panel "Volatility and Governance in the Age of AI." Hope to see you there!

8 Sept

"Volatility and Governance in the Age of AI" panelists include Rashad Abelson of @oecd-ocde.bsky.social, Andrew Sutton of @oxmartinschool.bsky.social, and Lizzy Girling of Standard Chartered. #EMIAConference

8 Sept

hubs.liForm

Open MIC and ICCR recently hosted a webinar on the Paramount + Warner Brothers merger. This week, Paramount asked states that filed a lawsuit for a $1.88 billion bond to cover costs of delays. Webinar panelists shared varied perspectives on the unprecedented merger plan 🧵👇

⚪ Nell Minow, film critic and corporate governance scholar What they want is to have the access to outside capital of a public company, but the control of a private company. It's a win-win for the insiders, but a lose-lose for everyone else.

⚪ Trevor Timm, press freedom activist "Media organizations should be strongly defending the first-amendment rights of their journalists. That's not just a principle decision, it's a good business decision, and media owners who abandon that principle should stay out of the news business altogether."

⚪ Mark Ruffalo, actor and activist: "I would urge you to use your platform to question these companies about this deal: not only whether or not it's good for the media industry and its workforce, but also whether or not it's good for you, the shareholders."

⚪ Alvaro Bedoya, former FTC commissioner "Paramount is on a legal gauntlet...That gauntlet is not starting in a good place, and, fourth, that gauntlet may not end where people think it is going to end. This is going to drag out for a very long time and take lots of different dimensions."

27 July

2 days to go. The proposed Paramount Skydance–Warner Brothers merger has major implications for workers, consumers, and investors. Join our July 29 ICCR investor briefing to understand what's at stake. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KFy-yXOmRjiZ8zhT6kwoKA#/registration

22 July

Open MIC’s Michael Connor will moderate a July 29 ICCR investor briefing about the potential merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Brothers.. 🗓️ Wed, July 29, 3:00PM EDT 🔗 https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KFy-yXOmRjiZ8zhT6kwoKA#/registration

22 July

Speakers include: • Mark Ruffalo, actor and activist • Nell Minow, corporate governance expert • Alvaro Bedoya, former FTC Commissioner • Trevor Timm, Freedom of the Press Foundation

9 July

To date, state-level AI regulations have fallen into the following categories: 🟢 Child Safety 🟢 Protecting Privacy 🟢 Public Safety 🟢 Harmful Content 🟢 Automated Decision Making 🟢 Autonomous Vehicles 🟢 Transparency 🟢 Consumer Protection Swipe for details ▶️

openmic.orgInvestor Brief: Legal Landscape of Emerging AI Tech in the United States — Open MICJUNE 19, 2026 – Open MIC has released a new investor brief examining the rapidly evolving legal landscape surrounding artificial intelligence and the implications for investors.

9 July

More (including original research) in our report: www.openmic.org/news/legal-l...

7 July

For AI companies, it's no longer the lawless frontier. From state regulation to a growing wave of litigation, the legal landscape is rapidly reshaping the risks facing AI companies. Swipe for key points from our recent investor brief ▶️

7 July

More in our investor brief on the legal landscape of emerging AI tech in the U.S.: www.openmic.org/news/legal-l...

29 June

Looks like Google finally needs to doing something about the slop coming out of its AI Overviews. The company is facing pressure from both investors and courts 🧵⬇️

24 June

AI is entering a new legal era. Our latest investor brief examines the legal trends shaping the future of the industry, from state-level AI regulation to a wide variety of lawsuits (safety, privacy + many more). https://www.openmic.org/news/legal-landscape-of-emerging-ai-tech-in-the-united-states

18 June

Check out our latest newsletter for updates: 👉 New job posting at Open MIC ✉️ Sign-on letter to provide transparency around AI for defense 📊 Our latest investor brief: What the SpaceX IPO does wrong https://us20.campaign-archive.com/?e=f93de114ee&u=ff276cf1b38bfc98a832cd13f&id=97a6cd34d4

16 June

Investors sent a clear signal to Alphabet on AI-generated misinformation. A shareholder proposal supported by @openmicmedia.bsky.social received 28.9% of the independent shareholder vote. Read more: https://www.openmic.org/news/googles-ai-misinformation-risk