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Riot Games agrees to pay $100 million in settlement of class-action gender discrimination lawsuit

By lucidcapitalism | December 27, 2021

(The Washington Post) “League of Legends” publisher Riot Games announced Monday that it is settling a 2018 gender-based discrimination class-action suit with California state agencies and current and former women employees for $100 million. The company will pay $80 million to members of the class-action suit and approximately $20 million toward plaintiffs’ legal fees. The…

Climate tech investment is booming, but not in the right sectors

By lucidcapitalism | December 21, 2021

(Quartz) Investment poured into climate tech at record levels in 2021, riding an overall boom in tech investment brought on by high-dollar public offerings, economic recovery from the pandemic, and growing interest in tech startups by private equity firms and other funders. In the first six months of 2021, climate tech attracted $60 billion in…

CFPB blasts VCs in ordering LendUp to stop lending

By lucidcapitalism | December 21, 2021

(Protocol) The Consumer Financial Protection said online lender LendUp will stop lending operations and pay a penalty for practices that the agency said misled and deceived consumers. The California-based online lender will cease issuing loans and collecting on outstanding loans, and will pay a $100,000 penalty for engaging in “illegal and deceptive marketing,” the CFPB…

Shareholders Press Facebook for Governance Changes

By lucidcapitalism | December 13, 2021

(Wall Street Journal) Facebook is facing more calls from shareholders to address harm on its platforms and overall governance as the company, now known as Meta Platforms Inc., responds to pressure from lawmakers and others. Shareholders, including the New York State Common Retirement Fund and Illinois State Treasurer, are among an investor group that collectively…

ESG: The majority of climate risk repricing ‘is yet to occur,’ strategist says

By lucidcapitalism | December 9, 2021

(Yahoo! Finance) Climate change has been called a consequence of the world’s largest market failure. But as flows into ESG assets accelerate, it has led some to question whether or not sustainable investors are merely buying into a cycle of hype. According to a new note from BlackRock that draws on a survey of 175 clients…

Female Founders in Short Supply at Enterprise Tech Startups

By lucidcapitalism | December 8, 2021

(Wall Street Journal) Less than 2% of enterprise software startups in the U.S. have at least one female founder according to a new report. Experts say one reason for the small number of female founders is that they have a harder time getting initial funding. The 2% figure represents just 354 enterprise software startups tracked…

Group Backed by Top Companies Moves to Combat A.I. Bias in Hiring

By lucidcapitalism | December 8, 2021

(New York Times) Artificial intelligence software is increasingly used by human resources departments to screen résumés, conduct video interviews and assess a job seeker’s mental agility. Now, some of the largest corporations in America are joining an effort to prevent that technology from delivering biased results that could perpetuate or even worsen past discrimination. The…

Rohingya sue Facebook for $150B, alleging role in violence

By lucidcapitalism | December 7, 2021

(AP) Rohingya refugees sued social network powerhouse Facebook for more than $150 billion, accusing it of failing to stop hate speech that incited violence against the Muslim ethnic group by military rulers and their supporters in Myanmar. Years after coming under scrutiny for contributing to ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar, recently revealed internal Facebook…

Ex-Stripe execs, VCs launch new nonprofit to promote ‘responsible’ innovation

By lucidcapitalism | December 6, 2021

(Fast Company) A new nonprofit aims to help fast-growth companies build their businesses by considering societal and environmental impacts from the outset. Responsible Innovation Labs, founded by Hemant Taneja, managing partner at venture firm General Catalyst, and former Stripe executives Jon Zieger and Diede van Lamoen, will help founders innovate with economic inclusion, environmental sustainability,…

Ex-Googler Timnit Gebru Starts Her Own AI Research Center

By lucidcapitalism | December 2, 2021

(Wired) One year ago Google artificial intelligence researcher Timnit Gebru tweeted, “I was fired” and ignited a controversy over the freedom of employees to question the impact of their company’s technology. Thursday, she launched a new research institute to ask questions about responsible use of artificial intelligence that Gebru says Google and other tech companies…