The Impact World this Week: 19 September 2025

US: Elon Musk’s AI firm xAI quietly abandoned its structural commitment to deliver environmental and social benefits last year, at the same time the billionaire was suing OpenAI over its own mooted restructure, which he alleged showed the rival firm had abandoned its founding mission to develop AI “for the benefit of humanity broadly”. American business news channel CNBC reported that on 9 May 2024 Nevada state public records show xAI no longer held the status of public benefit corporation, a hybrid for-profit structure through which a company is obliged to pursue a public benefit alongside its financial goals. xAI is now a standard private company, controlled by X.AI Holdings Corp., which is 59% owned by Musk. In February 2024, Musk sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, claiming the company’s plan to restructure into a public benefit corporation, which would have taken power away from its non-profit board, showed the firm was focussing on maximising profits over its original non-profit, open-source mission.

• Read more: Is OpenAI impact washing by becoming a public benefit corporation?

Palestine: Concepts of “sumud” (steadfastness) and “al-awneh” (collective action) were invoked by social enterprise BuildPalestine as it launched a new US$1m fundraising campaign this week. Through the new membership campaign, BuildPalestine aims to expand its team and triple the number of social enterprises it supports from 25 to 75 by 2028. Lama Amr, executive director of BuildPalestine, explained funding Palestinian enterprises directly through the membership scheme would help to grow resilient, community-rooted businesses that can withstand political and economic instability. Membership contributions – ranging from US$2,000 to US$25,000 annually – are tax-deductible in the US and EU, and come with benefits including periodic field updates and personalised impact tours in Palestine. 

• Read more: Rebuilding Gaza – Palestinian resilience through social enterprise

Figure of the week: US$102m (JP¥15.2bn) will be dedicated to financing projects that advance gender equality and women’s empowerment by Japanese conglomerate Itochu Corporation through its newly issued ‘Orange Bond’. It is the first such bond issued in Japan, under the banner of Impact Investment Exchange’s (IIX) Orange Movement, a global initiative aiming to mobilise US$10bn by 2030 and empower 100m women, girls, and gender minorities to lead climate-resilient solutions. Proceeds from Itochu’s bond will be directed toward purchasing products from companies providing vocational training for women, building inclusive workplaces and supporting facilities providing perinatal healthcare. The bond will also strengthen women-led and women-focused enterprises in Itochu’s supply chain and expand partnerships with companies providing services and products that promote gender equality, such as fem-tech enterprises.

EU: Impact investments need a dedicated category in EU financial regulation to unlock the capital needed for transformative social and environmental solutions. That’s according to Impact Europe and the #UnitedforImpact coalition, which includes 64 impact investment funds across 17 countries. In a statement published on the Impact Europe website, the partnership has urged the EU to clarify differences between ESG, sustainable transition and impact, and reflect the specific goals of impact investing, as part of the bloc’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which is currently being revised by the EU Commission. The statement said SFDR currently “fails to capture impact funds' distinct outputs and imposes reporting requirements misaligned with early-stage companies”.

• Read more: EU anti-greenwashing law torpedoed after Commission’s shock U-turn

US: After almost half a century at Ben & Jerry’s, co-founder Jerry Greenfield (pictured above) quit his salaried role as brand ambassador on Wednesday over an ongoing dispute with parent company Unilever. In a statement published on social media by Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, Greenfield said: “Standing up for values like justice, equity, and shared humanity has never been more important, yet Ben & Jerry's has been silenced and sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power.” Last week Greenfield and Cohen published an open letter which said Ben & Jerry’s “has been silenced by Unilever, particularly when the brand has tried to speak out about social justice and unjust wars”. Greenfield’s resignation continues the contention between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever, which bought the ice cream brand in 2000. Tensions include a number of legal challenges relating to agreements in the sale deal designed to protect Ben & Jerry’s mission and strong stance on social issues.

• Watch: Pioneers Post interviews Jerry Greenfield from Ben & Jerry’s

UK: “Defector” is the latest attribute accrued by Danny Kruger, to add to a list including MP, the UK’s former “civil society tsar”, son of celebrity chef Prue Leith – and anti-abortion campaigner. The MP for East Wiltshire left the opposition Conservative party on Monday to join the far-right party Reform UK, which only came fourth in the 2024 election in the constituency won by Kruger. Reform’s policies include mass deportation of asylum seekers (including children), scrapping net zero targets and abolishing inheritance tax. The party has been polling well throughout 2025 and is tipped for unprecedented success in the next general election. Unlike most UK political parties, Reform was founded in 2018 as a private limited company, with current leader Nigel Farage holding the majority of shares. In February 2025 the company was taken over by a newly registered business called Reform 2025 Ltd, with Farage and his deputy Richard Tice no longer holding shares. 

• Read more: ‘The UK is still the best country for social investment’ — Pioneers Post interviews Danny Kruger

Movers and Shakers

Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) founder Durreen Shahnaz was a winner at last week’s inaugural Tatler Front & Female Awards Singapore, which recognised seven women, from a shortlist of 22 nominees, who are inspiring progress and driving change for women and girls.