Disclaimers & Disclosures
Everything a reader needs to weigh our work: what we are, what our advisories are and are not, how products get approved, and who supports the organization.
1. Not a government agency
The AI Watchdog Alliance is a private not-for-profit organization. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any federal, state, or local government body, and it exercises no regulatory, investigative, or enforcement authority. Our seal and name are trademarks of the organization and carry no official status.
2. Advisories are general information
Public advisories describe patterns of harm reported to us or documented in public sources. They are general consumer education, not legal, financial, or professional security advice, and not a determination about any particular company, product, or individual. Threat conditions change; an advisory reflects our understanding on its issue date.
3. The public record
Items in the news and action record are reviewed by a person and published with their sources named. Reporting a company's announcement, or an incident, is not an allegation of wrongdoing by anyone unless we say so expressly. We correct errors in place and label them as corrections rather than removing them quietly.
4. Approval is an opinion measured against a published standard
Products listed under the approved guardrail program are assessed against the technical criteria published on that page. Approval is our documented opinion, not a certification, license, warranty, or guarantee of performance or security, and it is not an endorsement by any public body. No tool prevents every harm. Approval is reviewed at least annually and may be withdrawn, and competing products meeting the same published standard are eligible.
5. Supporters and material relationships
The Alliance's programs are made possible by its supporters. Our founding supporter is Atom Works, Inc., maker of Abjurer™, which underwrites the free-for-life memberships the Alliance provides to students and first responders and is currently approved under the guardrail program. We state that relationship plainly so readers can weigh our approvals for themselves, consistent with the Federal Trade Commission's guidance on disclosing material connections.
The Alliance's founder and a member of its board, John M. Ossenmacher, is also a founder of Atom Works, Inc. and of UnlockFi, Corp., which holds pending patent applications on mechanisms relevant to the Alliance's Verified Stop Standard, and is associated with Sworne, a planned licensing company for that portfolio. Abjurer™ is a for-profit company separately owned. For the purposes of our bylaws and conflict-of-interest policy these are all “related entities”: any arrangement with any of them requires advance approval by the independent directors with the interested director absent, and none of them receives any preference in our advisories, our approvals, our standards process or our conformance register.
Our commitments, published so they can be held against us: the approval standard is public and applies equally to every product; competing tools that meet it will be approved and listed; approvals are reviewed at least annually and can be withdrawn; supporters have no editorial control over advisories or the public record; and every advisory names free actions a reader can take before it names any paid product.
6. Our marks
AI Watchdog Alliance℠, the Alliance seal, Guarding the Digital Frontier℠, and Verified Stop℠ are service marks of the AI Watchdog Alliance, used in connection with our consumer education, advisory, and program services. The ℠ symbol indicates a claim of common-law service-mark rights; these marks are not registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and no federal registration is claimed. Our marks may not be used to imply affiliation with, sponsorship by, or approval from the Alliance without our written permission, and they may not be used in any manner suggesting government authority.
7. Third-party content and trademarks
Links to third-party sites are provided for reference. We do not control and are not responsible for their content, accuracy, security, or practices, and a link is not an endorsement. Trademarks referenced on this Site — including Abjurer™, ForgeMark™, and Amem™, which are marks of Atom Works, Inc. — belong to their respective owners. The Alliance is not affiliated with AI Watchdog (aiwatchdog.net) or any similarly named organization.
8. Formation status
The Alliance is incorporating as a nonprofit corporation in the State of Delaware and will apply for recognition as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Until a determination letter issues we describe ourselves as a not-for-profit organization, do not claim tax-exempt status, and do not solicit charitable contributions; contributions are not tax-deductible until then. A majority of our directors must be independent of every related entity named in section 5, by name, under our bylaws. Program benefits described on this Site take effect at launch.
9. Standards, patents and licensing
The Alliance publishes open technical standards, beginning with the Verified Stop Standard, KS-1.0. Standards are written as outcomes, not designs; they name no product and require no particular mechanism, and anyone may implement them. The text of each standard is licensed for free public use under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Conformance to a standard is established only by a passing report from an independent verifier, and no one may claim conformance or use the Verified Stop mark without one.
Patent disclosure. The Alliance has been notified that mechanisms capable of meeting the requirements of KS-1.0 are the subject of pending patent applications held by UnlockFi, Corp., a related entity under section 5. The Alliance publishes every patent disclosure it receives and requires working-group contributors to disclose. The Alliance makes no representation as to whether any particular implementation practices any claim, and conformance can be achieved by other means.
Public-basis commitment. The patent holder has committed in writing that any such mechanism will be available without royalty for use by federal, state, local and tribal governments, contractors acting for them, nonprofit organizations, and individuals acting in a non-commercial capacity. The commitment letter is on file with the Alliance and is published with the standard. Terms for commercial implementers are set and published by the patent holder, not by the Alliance, and the Alliance receives no royalty from any license.
Governance of the process. Standards are developed by a Standards Committee of the board and a working group a majority of whose voting members are unaffiliated with any related entity. Drafts are published for public comment, and comments and responses are published with each version. Conformance determinations are made by persons free of conflict with respect to the deployment examined.
10. Reporting an error
If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it: record@aiwatchdogalliance.org.