AI puts B Corps’ values to the test

Beneficial State Bank is in a bind. As a certified B Corporation, the Oakland, California-based community development bank is built around social justice, climate accountability, and financial success without funding fossil fuels or private prisons. Artificial intelligence could help it meet those goals and make lending more inclusive. But using it requires some ethical gymnastics. Until now, Terra Neilson, Beneficial State Bank’s chief impact officer, says it was easy to put AI in the “unethical” category. Its environmental footprint and social harms are regular headlines. But a recent pro...