Sign the Voluntary Responsible AI Commitments

Artificial intelligence offers enormous promise and great risk. In this pivotal moment as new companies are funded and built, it is critical that startups incorporate responsible AI practices into product development from the outset.

Startup: My organization makes these voluntary commitments (described below).

Venture Capital Firm: My organization will make reasonable efforts to (1) encourage portfolio companies to make these voluntary commitments (described below), (2) consult these voluntary commitments when conducting diligence on potential investments in AI startups, and (3) foster responsible AI practices among portfolio companies.

LP: I encourage the venture capital firms in which I invest to make these voluntary Responsible AI commitments (described below).

Supporter: I encourage startups and venture firms to make these voluntary Responsible AI commitments (described below).
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Signatories make these voluntary responsible AI commitments:

• Commit to responsible AI: We understand the importance of building AI safely and are committed to incorporating responsible AI practices into building and/or adopting AI within our organization. We will implement internal governance processes, including a forum for diverse stakeholders to provide feedback on the impact of new products and identify risk mitigation strategies. We will build systems that put security first, protect privacy, and invest in cybersecurity best practices to prevent misuse.
• Foster trust through transparency: We will document decisions about how and why AI systems are built and/or adopted (including the use of third party AI products). Information will be disclosed to internal and/or external audiences such as safety evaluations conducted, limitations of AI/model use, the model’s effects on societal risks (e.g. bias and discrimination), and the results of adversarial testing undertaken to evaluate fitness for deployment in ways that balance other priorities, including but not limited to user privacy or security.
• Forecast AI risks & benefits: We will take reasonable steps to identify the foreseeable risks and benefits of our technologies, including limitations of a new system and its potential harms, and use those assessments to inform product development and risk mitigation efforts.
• Audit and test to ensure product safety: Based on forecasted risks and benefits, we will undertake regular testing to ensure our systems are aligned with responsible AI principles. Testing will include auditing of data and our systems’ outputs, including harmful bias and discrimination, and documenting those results. We will use adversarial testing, such as red teaming, to identify potential risks.
• Make regular and ongoing improvements: We will implement appropriate mitigations while monitoring their efficacy, as well as adopt feedback mechanisms to maintain a responsible AI strategy that keeps pace with evolving norms, technologies, and business objectives. We will monitor the robustness of our AI systems.

More information about how to action these commitments can be found in the forthcoming Protocol for Responsible AI.

Signatories are welcome to provide feedback on the final Protocol for Responsible AI and accompanying resources. Individuals interested in contributing to this effort can reach out to ai@rilabs.org.

For generative models at or beyond the current industry frontier, investors and startups are encouraged to review and adopt the Biden-Harris Administration’s voluntary commitments to manage the risks posed by AI.

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Responsible Innovation Labs, a nonprofit global coalition of leading founders and venture capitalists, has convened a multi-sector working group to define a Protocol for Responsible AI as a guide and accountability mechanism for investors and startups building or adopting AI systems.The Protocol translates responsible AI principles and best practices from public policy initiatives, civil society, academia, and industry to meet the specific needs of the burgeoning AI startup sector.