Greg Bensinger
(Reuters) – Amazon.com investors voted against all 14 resolutions that would have required the retailer to disclose more information about its carbon emissions and director donations and form a committee to oversee developments in artificial intelligence, among other things.
Amazon (NASDAQ:) announced a preliminary vote at its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, in which all 12 directors were elected to additional terms.
The company asked shareholders to reject all outside proposals. Additional resolutions sought to have Amazon create a committee to review the financial implications of policy positions and produce reports on lobbying expenses, warehouse conditions and packaging materials.
CEO Andy Jassy appears to have made it clear that Amazon has no plans to declare a dividend, unlike moves made this year by rivals Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:). “We believe the best use of cash for customers, the business and shareholders is to invest in the businesses that we are in,” he said during a question-and-answer session.
Amazon and Tesla (NASDAQ:) remain the only members of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” of tech stocks that don’t pay dividends.
Jassy also said Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant service will receive a “more extensive” generative AI upgrade. “I’m optimistic that we’ll be leaders here,” he said. Earlier Wednesday, CNBC reported that Amazon is considering charging customers a monthly fee to use Alexa’s generative artificial intelligence offerings.
Amazon will later provide a complete tally of investor votes in a securities filing.
The retailer’s shares were little changed on Wednesday and are up 22% this year.