Corrections added to history

background.md

@@ -1,54 +1,31 @@
 # 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
+[Metagov](https://metagov.org) and managing 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.
+For how to join and use it, see [Getting started](getting-started.md);
+for our governance model, see the [Charter](charter.md).
 
 ## 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.
+The cooperative launched in September 2026, growing out of research on democratic
+digital infrastructure through Metagov's [Collective Governance for AI: 
+Points of Intervention](https://metagov.org/cg-ai/). 
 
+It began with a single privacy-first provider 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
+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
+talk to each other and to the project. The
+code that runs the member-facing services is available in public
 repositories.
 
 In October 2026, members adopted the co-op's first