Howard Schultz said he’s — capital W — Worried about AI.
Speaking in an interview with LinkedIn’s editor in chief, Daniel Roth, the former Starbucks CEO brought up the topic of AI, saying it was something he wanted to talk about.
He drew parallels between the speed at which social media progressed, how regulation around social media lagged behind, and warned that AI is on the same trajectory.
“If we look back on the last 10, 15 years on social media, I think we’d be hard pressed to say that the velocity and the impact and the adverse effect of social media is equal to, or more than, the benefits that have occurred,” he said. “And one of the reasons is the fact that there wasn’t regulation, and the regulation that has come is too late.”
He said AI is progressing so fast and “the regulators are so far behind, they don’t even know what the questions are because of the speed of this thing.”
Schultz said as well that he does support AI adoption, but is voicing his concerns “as a private citizen.”
“I worry, with a big W, about the impact this could have, that could be adverse,” he said to Roth.
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He then urged the leaders of Big Tech companies, like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Reid Hoffman, and Bill Gates, to “come together and understand collectively” that they have a moral responsibility that should not be forgotten in the pursuit of winning.
Schultz was the company’s CEO from 1987 to 2000 and returned in 2008 to revive the chain after the financial crisis. He also briefly served as the interim CEO from 2022 to 2023. He now runs a philanthropic organization, the Schultz Family Foundation.
Starbucks has been investing in its people, rather than AI and automation, to boost its performance, unlike chains such as Chipotle and Wendy’s.
However, in June, it partnered with OpenAI to develop an AI-powered tool, Green Dot Assist, which acts as a virtual assistant for its baristas.
Schultz’s interview with LinkedIn comes less than a month after Starbucks announced that it would be closing more than 100 locations across North America and laying off 900 non-retail staff.
Representatives for Starbucks and the Schultz Family Foundation did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
