Apple Inc’s board of directors has recommended shareholders vote against a proposal to end the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, going against the grain of decisions by other large US corporates.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, proposed Apple shareholders consider ending the firm’s DEI program to prevent lawsuits following a 2023 Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action in universities. But the Apple board has recommended voting against the proposal when it meets late this month.
"The proposal is unnecessary as Apple already has a well-established compliance program," said the board, which includes Tim Cook, the California-based company’s boss.
Photo: Reuters
"The proposal also inappropriately attempts to restrict Apple’s ability to manage its own ordinary business operations, people and teams, and business strategies," it said, accusing the think-tank of trying to "micromanage" the company.
The board said the iPhone maker "is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, training, or promoting on any basis protected by law."
The proposal will be put to a shareholder vote at Apple’s annual general meeting on Feb. 25.
Following in the footsteps of McDonald’s Corp, Ford Motor Co, Walmart Inc and a host of others, Meta Platforms Inc became the latest US firm to end its DEI programs.
The Friday announcement by Meta which owns Facebook and Instagram, comes amid what it described as "a changing legal and policy landscape."
US president-elect Donald Trump who takes office next week, has been a harsh critic of Meta and its owner Mark Zuckerberg for years, accusing the company of bias against him and threatening to retaliate against the tech billionaire once back in office.
Zuckerberg has been moving aggressively to reconcile with Trump since his election win in November last year, including donating US$1 million to his inauguration fund and hiring a Republican as his public affairs chief.
Republicans are also fiercely against DEI programs in corporate America, many of which were established in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement and the nation’s attempt to reckon with longstanding racial disparities.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents would supplant smartphones as the center of people’s digital lives, fundamentally reshaping personal devices and driving a major computing upgrade cycle, Qualcomm Inc CEO Cristiano Amon said yesterday. In his keynote speech for this year’s Computex trade show in Taipei, Amon said that the rise of "agentic AI" — AI systems capable of reasoning, planning and carrying out tasks autonomously — would transform how people interact with technology across phones, PCs, vehicles and wearable devices. Describing the technology as the next major evolution in computing, Amon said that "2026 is the year of agents.” For decades, smartphones have sat
RSS