ADM and Coca-Cola among Fortune 500 companies citing AI risks

Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Constellation Brands and ADM are among some of the biggest brands in the Fortune 500 highlighting the risks and benefits of AI, data from technology platform​ Arize has shown.

Some 281 companies within the list cite AI as a potential risk factor (+473% on 2022), while the number of AI mentions in company annual reports has risen by 250% in two years.

Sectors where most businesses considered AI to be high risk included media and entertainment (91.7%), software and technology (86.4%) and telecommunications (70%). Conversely, automotive (18.8%), energy (37.3%) and manufacturing (39.7%) viewed it to be low risk.

Does food and drink fear AI?​

While only 10 consumer packaged goods companies and four manufacturing companies mentioned AI in their latest company reports, compared with 152 tech and 121 financial services companies, most that did highlighted risks.

“Generative AI advancements are progressing at an unprecedented pace, which brings risks that could subject the company to loss through various technical, legal and opportunistic-related risks,” said ADM’s latest annual financial report.

Pace and the lack of regulatory frameworks surrounding the technology were of particular concern to ADM, especially around data, privacy and security but also the use of third-party data.

“Guidance for awareness and responsible generative AI use to protect ADM data from legal a legal and technical standpoint, along with technological development for opportunistic uses, monitoring and oversight are important components of the company’s risk mitigation approach,” it said.

Colgate-Palmolive highlighted similar business risks, calling echoing a lack of regulation also. However, it also questioned the ability to adapt AI within an “effective and ethical” manner, which “may impact our reputation and ability to compete, as outputs from generative AI models could be, among other things, false, biased or inconsistent with out values or strategies”.

Coca-Cola’s AI concerns​

Increasing a business’s exposure to cybercrime was one of Coca-Cola’s main concerns.

Risk, however, was not agenda-topping for Constellation Brands, which had already implemented an AI governance framework to address the use of AI tech, including generative and its use by employees and third-party suppliers.

“Nevertheless, our employees and third-party service providers may not follow our governance framework, including if such providers incorporate AI technologies into their products or systems without disclosing this use to us,” it’s latest financial report stated.

A lack of disclosure could generate risks in the business’s ability to address existing or rapidly changing developing regulatory or industry standards relating to AI tech, it warned.