Investors want Amazon to review AI and cloud contracts with Israeli military, US DHS

Amazon is under fresh pressure as shareholders push for a detailed check on its AI and cloud deals connected to Israel’s military and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The proposal was filed by American Baptist Home Mission Societies, reviewed by Bloomberg, and targets the company’s own responsible AI rules. It asks the board to look for “instances of misalignment” between those rules and the way Amazon sells AI systems and cloud tools to government agencies.

Investors want the vote to take place during the company’s annual meeting in May.

The filing comes while other tech giants deal with similar heat. Microsoft, based near Amazon and competing hard in cloud, has faced protests from workers and activists who oppose its links to the Israeli military during the Gaza conflict.

After reports that Microsoft servers carried recordings of intercepted calls from Palestinian areas, the company removed those files. It still deals with pressure from groups calling for a full break from Israeli clients.

Investors push Amazon to review AI and cloud practices

Amazon Web Services remains central to the company’s global business. It sells rented storage and computing power at a scale no rival matches.

AWS has not seen the level of internal protests that hit Microsoft, but workers and outside groups have targeted Amazon and Google for their roles in Project Nimbus, an Israeli government cloud platform.

One Amazon employee was fired earlier this year after he criticized that deal on internal Slack channels and later passed out fliers at the Seattle headquarters. The cloud giant said the worker broke rules by making statements meant to “threaten, intimidate, coerce or interfere with” leaders and colleagues.

Shareholders also focus on DHS, which uses a biometric and biographic data system hosted on AWS. The resolution cites claims that DHS units have detained people without clear cause and violated privacy, free speech, and due-process rights.

Investors argue that Amazon cannot call its AI framework responsible if it continues selling tools used in these operations.

Support for the resolution has grown. Aaron Acosta, program director at Investor Advocates for Social Justice, said thirty investors backing the filing hold at least $59 million in Amazon shares.

He said the group includes religious organizations, asset managers, pension plans, family offices and individual shareholders. They say the company’s AI policy promises fairness, privacy, security, safety and transparency. The filing said:-

“Despite this approach, Amazon continues to sell to and maintain contracts with entities engaged in rights-violating applications of its AI and related technologies, suggesting misalignment between its policies and practice.”

The filing also reminds the board that these proposals almost never win majority support, but they still show what the public and investors want.

Past pressure has pushed Amazon to add diverse board candidates and complete a racial equity audit of its workforce. Here, investors want the board to explain whether its contracts follow its own rules and what the company plans to do next.

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