Why Impact Investing Needs to Prioritize Public Interest Technology


Foundation: Ford Foundation

credit: edmondjsafra

"Today, we find ourselves in the midst of an 'AI boom,' and the red flags keep appearing," writesWilneida Negr in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

The co-founder of Startups & Society Initiative and a professor of public interest technology write that civil society needs to take a " proactive role" in protecting the public interest while funding the "next generation of industry-defining technologies."

They call on philanthropic leaders, impact investors, ESG investors, and venture capitalists to put their money where their mouth is and invest in companies that create " equitable and ethical outcomes for the next generation of technology with limited and constrained funding."

The market for impact investing is estimated to be worth $1.164 trillion, and Negr and co-founder Lyel Resner write that it's time for it to take hold.

"The vast majority of impact investors receive the returns they wanted and see the social and environmental benefits their money was meant to unlock," they write.

"And yet, venture capital is pouring billions of dollars into the next generation of industry-defining technologies," they write.

"As Silicon Valley continues to build at an enormous scale, civil society is expected to single-handedly protect the public interest while ensuring equitable and ethical outcomes for the next generation of

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