Business news in brief

By The Associated Press

AI companies make fresh safety promise at Seoul summit

SEOUL, South Korea | Leading artificial intelligence companies made a fresh pledge at a mini-summit Tuesday to develop AI safely, while world leaders agreed to build a network of publicly backed safety institutes to advance research and testing of the technology.

Google, Meta and OpenAI were among the companies that made voluntary safety commitments at the AI Seoul Summit, including pulling the plug on their cutting-edge systems if they can’t rein in the most extreme risks.

The two-day meeting is a follow-up to November’s AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in the United Kingdom, and comes amid a flurry of efforts by governments and global bodies to design guardrails for the technology amid fears about the risk it poses both to everyday life and to humanity.

Shareholders ask investors to vote against Musk’s compensation package

A group of Tesla shareholders is asking investors to vote against a compensation package worth more than $40 billion for CEO Elon Musk, saying that it’s not in the electric vehicle maker’s best interest.

Tesla is struggling with falling global sales, slowing electric vehicle demand, an aging model lineup and a stock price that has tumbled 30% this year.

The shareholder group, which includes New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, SOC Investment Group and Amalgamated Bank, said in a letter to shareholders that ratification of Musk’s pay package would do nothing to promote Tesla’s long-term growth and stability.

Domino’s plans $174M for St. Jude hospital

The world’s top-selling pizza chain is betting big on the generosity of its customers. And they are not alone.

Domino’s recently pledged $174 million over the next ten years to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, expecting the funds to come from its longstanding roundup campaign that invites customers to donate the difference between their purchase total and the next-highest dollar amount.

Domino’s is the latest and largest example of philanthropic allies new and old finding success through “checkout charity.” The fundraising tool raked in 24% more money in 2022 than 2020 among the highest making programs, for a total of $749 million, according to the professional association Engage for Good.

—From AP reports