5.2 KiB
Inference Cooperative Charter
Preamble
The Inference Cooperative exists to enable the people who use its AI infrastructure to co-govern it. We came together to build and run an alternative to extractive, profit-driven AI—a service owned and directed by its members, committed to pursuing ethical practices, and governed cooperatively. This charter is our core governing document. It sets out how we make decisions together.
Values
In addition to the international cooperative principles, we share these basic commitments:
- Participation. Our service is accountable to the people who use it, and they both can and should have an active role in shaping it.
- Experimentation. In order to learn together, we will maintain a spirit of exploration and experimentation, and be respectful of all members' levels of knowledge and expertise.
- Sustainability. We commit, wherever possible, to minimizing harm to natural ecologies and to promoting environmental justice.
- Trustworthiness. We seek to provide reliable service to one another and protect each other's privacy, in contrast to an industry widely characterized by surveillance.
- Transparency. The co-op should make its operations and decisions as available as possible to members, and to share our learnings with the wider world.
Roles
- Members are the heart of the co-op. All account holders currently contributing monthly dues are considered members and may participate in decision-making and working groups. Members may be sanctioned or removed for violating co-op rules by the GM or a designated working group.
- A general manager oversees day-to-day operations and implements member decisions, through their own actions or additional roles that they delegate. The GM is accountable to members and may be replaced by them through a policy decision.
- Working groups make and carry out operational decisions within their own purview. They should be formally established, modified, and disbanded through a policy decision, and they are obligated, at minimum, to publish to members their membership, meeting schedule, and major activities.
- A spokescouncil coordinates across working groups, and all working groups are responsible for ensuring that at least one member consistently participates. The spokescouncil meets monthly, and meetings are open to all members.
Decisions
The co-op operates through the practice of modified policy governance. Member decisions should seek to instill responsibility and trust in role-holders, while guiding them only through goal-setting and necessary constraints. Role-holders should act on the basis of their expertise and the co-op's values, as well as through consultation with members.
Policy. Any member may propose a policy in the co-op's forum. A proposal requires at least one vote from another member and stays open for 7 days. It passes by consent as long as it receives support from at least 60% of voting members. If a member raises a block—a reasoned objection that the proposal would seriously harm the cooperative—it requires 75% support. The proposal's author is always encouraged to revise the proposal based on feedback from other members and restart the process.
Charter. Changes to this charter require a proposal open for 14 days, along with approval by 75% of voting members, regardless of blocks. Policy decisions must not contradict the charter.
This governance design is oriented around a relatively small community. Upon reaching 250 members, we commit to revising this charter with a larger community in mind.
Disputes
We regard disputes as an opportunity to learn and grow. Members should try to work things out directly with each other first. When necessary, disputes either among members or between a member and the co-op should be brought to the disputes working group—or, if one does not exist, the GM. Disputes that cannot be adequately addressed within the co-op may be escalated to the parent legal entity, which may in turn forward them to the relevant legal jurisdiction.
Agreements
This charter is the core governing document. Members are also bound by the following agreements:
Legal entity
The Inference Cooperative operates under the fiscal sponsorship of Metagov, and our governance is subject to Metagov's fiscal sponsorship policy. We commit to honor that agreement and to operate in a spirit that avoids causing harm to our fiscal host. Metagov may rescind a decision it deems at odds with its policies.
If that commitment is ever at odds with the cooperative's evolution, the cooperative may move to a different fiscal host. Changing fiscal hosts should occur through a revision of this Charter.