An investor advocate wants Shopify to adopt a policy on the responsible use of artificial intelligence.

“We’re raising this now because Shopify’s existing disclosure policies and practices appear to be insufficient to really assure shareholders, as well as merchants, that Shopify is deploying, scaling and advancing AI responsibly,” said Juana Lee, associate director of corporate engagement at the Canadian non-profit Shareholder Association for Research and Education, or SHARE.

The group has been communicating with Shopify on the issue since last year, Lee said, adding that pushing for the responsible use of AI amongst major technology companies was now a “thematic priority” for the organization.

SHARE has filed a shareholder proposal asking Shopify’s board of directors to adopt such a policy for its business and operations. “The policy should include a commitment to align with internationally recognized standards and respect human rights,” read the proposal in Shopify’s management information circular filed earlier this month. 

Shopify declined to comment, but director of communications Ben McConaghy pointed to the company’s response in the circular, which urges shareholders to vote against it. Shareholders will vote at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on June 16.

The proposal comes as Shopify expands both how it uses AI internally and also the AI tools it develops for merchants. In April 2025, CEO Tobi Lütke told staff “reflexive AI usage” was now a “baseline expectation” and that additional staff or resources would only be distributed if workers showed AI couldn’t do the job instead. 

AI now writes more than half the code at Shopify, makes pre-emptive offers to merchants as part of the firm’s growing money-lending business and powers much of the company’s customer support. Shopify has claimed it is now in “pole position” for AI-powered shopping. It recently turned on agentic commerce tools for millions of merchants, and has been sharing numbers suggesting shoppers buy more frequently and spend more when discovering products through AI chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini.

SHARE is concerned that unregulated AI use could increase the spread of misinformation, fraud or privacy issues, among other risks.

Shopify “lags behind several peers in meeting internationally recognized standards,” Lee claimed. California-based eBay, for example, has a responsible AI policy, which includes working to reduce AI hallucinations and designing systems that don’t discriminate against protected classes based on age or other factors.

Shopify called SHARE’s proposal “a solution in search of a problem,” in its filing, saying SHARE’s generic approach doesn’t take into account what specific companies do or how they operate.

Shopify said that AI was “core” to its operations and it understands the technology deeply. It added that it has a public code of conduct governing how it uses AI. That five-page code of conduct does not mention “artificial intelligence” or “AI,” but it does ask anyone working with the firm to act honestly and ethically.

Shopify also said its board has members who are experienced in “building and deploying machine learning and AI at a global scale,” and that ongoing oversight of AI products is built into how the company operates, including in its contracts and terms of services with vendors.

Lee doesn’t find Shopify’s response convincing. “Expertise and briefings are not substitutes for responsible AI policy,” she claimed. Shopify has not been specific enough with shareholders on the measures it takes, she added.

The Shopify proposal marks the first time SHARE has asked a company to adopt such a policy, but the non-profit is acutely aware of how rapidly AI is progressing and watching how corporations handle oversight.

SHARE has co-filed a proposal to be considered at Alphabet’s upcoming AGM, asking its board to update its audit committee charter requiring formal oversight of AI. Like Shopify, Alphabet’s board has also directed shareholders to vote against the proposal.

“It is an issue, an area, that we will continue to monitor very closely,” said Lee.