Add background.md: one-page mission and history summary; link from README index

README.md

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ funded through our [Open Collective](https://opencollective.com/inference-cooper
 ## Start here
 
 - **New here?** → [Getting started](getting-started.md) — join, use the chat, and get involved in governance.
+- **Why does this exist?** → [Background](background.md) — a one-page summary of the mission and history.
 - **Which models can I use?** → [Models](models.md) — the full catalog of providers and models.
 - **Want API access?** → [API access](api-access.md) — use our models programmatically.
 - **Want community chat?** → [Getting started · Matrix](getting-started.md) — our federated Matrix server, including how to connect from any client and how to use an existing Matrix account.

background.md

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Background
+
+A one-page account of why the Inference Cooperative exists and how it got
+here. For how to join and use it, see [Getting started](getting-started.md);
+for the rules, see the [Charter](charter.md).
+
+## Mission
+
+The Inference Cooperative exists to give people a real alternative for AI: a
+service owned and directed by the people who use it, rather than rented from
+an extractive industry. Members pay dues on a sliding scale and receive
+private AI chat and API access through infrastructure the members govern
+together.
+
+Three commitments shape how we build it:
+
+- **Privacy.** Our "private" models run in trusted execution environments
+  (hardware-encrypted enclaves) with end-to-end encryption between your device
+  and the model — the stack is designed so that even the co-op's own operators
+  cannot read members' conversations.
+- **Sustainability.** Members can choose models that run on 100% renewable
+  energy, from providers with public environmental commitments. We self-host
+  our own infrastructure, so every efficiency gain is ours to make.
+- **Self-governance.** Decisions are made by members through
+  [policy governance](charter.md), on our [forum](https://forum.inference.coop/),
+  using free, self-hosted tools wherever possible.
+
+We are a small cooperative by design, fiscally sponsored by the nonprofit
+[Metagov](https://metagov.org) and funded through member dues on
+[Open Collective](https://opencollective.com/inference-cooperative).
+Membership starts at $5/month (suggested $15), which covers a $15 monthly
+usage allowance. The service costs what members put in, and no investor takes
+a cut.
+
+## How we got here
+
+The cooperative launched in 2026, growing out of research on democratic
+digital infrastructure at the Media Economies Design Lab (MEDLab) at the
+University of Colorado Boulder. It began with a single privacy-first provider
+— Tinfoil, whose models run in encrypted enclaves — and a deliberately small
+toolset: a chat, an API gateway, and the basics for membership and payments.
+
+From there it grew the way co-ops do: in response to what members asked for.
+A model picker grouped providers by what they stand for — **private**
+(encrypted enclaves) and **green** (renewable-powered: GreenPT and Regolo,
+the latter with a written zero-data-retention policy). A member dashboard
+made usage and spending transparent. A federated
+[Matrix](https://matrix.inference.coop) server, a
+[forum](https://forum.inference.coop), and a newsletter gave members places to
+talk to each other and to the project. The chat migrated to LibreChat, and the
+code that runs the member-facing services was opened up in public
+repositories.
+
+In October 2026, members adopted the co-op's first
+[charter](charter.md) — a democratic constitution setting out values, roles,
+and decision-making, with a commitment to redesign governance as the
+community grows past 250 members.
+
+## Where we're going
+
+The near-term road: more model choices with strong privacy and environmental
+records, infrastructure hosted with values-aligned providers, and the
+working-group structure the charter describes. The longer arc: proving that
+people can govern their AI the way they govern a credit union or a land trust
+— and sharing what we learn with the co-ops that come after us.