Box Commons Governance Framework
- Three-chamber governance (Industry, Civil Society, Academic) with equal voting weight prevents any single group from dominating.
- Six anti-capture mechanisms including term limits, cooling-off periods, and funded adversarial participation.
- All patent contributions default to royalty-free. Standards never mandate specific technologies.
- Box Commons sets standards and accredits certifiers but does not certify directly.
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1. Purpose & Mission
AI systems are increasingly operating with real autonomy. Yet there is no independent, broadly accepted credentialing regime that verifies whether a given AI system is competent, safe, and behaving within defined parameters.
Box Commons is an independent standards body that develops technology-agnostic credentialing standards for AI systems. It operates as a 501(c)(6) business league that builds measurement and certification infrastructure, not advocacy.
- Technology-agnostic. Standards specify performance requirements, not specific technologies.
- Evidence-based. Grounded in empirical research and measurable outcomes.
- Independently governed. No single entity controls the process.
- Accessible. Non-discriminatory access with financial barriers actively reduced.
2. Governance Model: Three-Chamber System
A standard is adopted when two of three chambers vote in favor. No single chamber can block a standard that the other two support.
AI Industry Chamber: Developers, deployers, cloud providers, enterprise users. Civil Society Chamber: Consumer advocates, labor organizations, NGOs. Academic & Research Chamber: Universities, research institutes, think tanks, test laboratories.
Board of Directors: 5 directors initially (expandable to 9). No more than 2 from any single interest category. 3-year staggered terms, 2-term maximum (6 years).
3. Independence Requirements
Individual: No employment/consulting exceeding $10K/year with any AI company in prior 2 years. No equity exceeding 1%. Annual disclosure required.
Organizational: No single sponsor may fund more than 25% of annual budget. All funding unrestricted. Annual third-party independence audit published publicly.
Founding Catalyst: Brice Love, uncompensated Acting ED with no board seat and no standards vote. Relationship disclosed in all governance documents.
4. Anti-Capture Mechanisms
- Supermajority: Bylaws changes require two-thirds of total board.
- Term limits: 6-year maximum continuous service, then 1-year gap.
- Funded adversarial participation: Budget for civil society travel, compensation, and technology.
- Cooling-off: 1 year before former AI executives (VP+) serve on standards committees.
- Sunset reviews: All standards reviewed every 3 years: reaffirm, revise, or withdraw.
- Public comment: 60-day minimum with written disposition of all substantive comments.
5. Standards Development Process
Proposal → Working Group → Draft → Public Comment (60 days) → Revision → Chamber Vote → Adoption → Sunset Review (3 years)
Working groups require representatives from at least 2 of 3 chambers. Written appeals to the governance committee, binding decisions within 60 days.
6. Certification Framework
Box Commons sets standards and accredits certifiers but does not certify directly, preventing financial conflicts.
Design principles: Modular certification, reciprocity with existing certifications (Fairly Trained L Certification recognized as a module), initial audit with annual surveillance and 3-year recertification, and a public registry.
7. Patent & IP Policy
Default: Royalty-Free. All contributions carry an RF default: a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to essential patent claims.
Empty Set LLC: AI credentialing patents pledged RF. If any becomes essential to a standard, it must be redesigned or Empty Set grants irrevocable RF license. No RAND path. Material science patents (unrelated) are retained.
Technology Agnosticism: No standard shall create a preference for any patented technology.
8. Framework Alignment
Standards map to NIST AI RMF (Govern, Map, Measure, Manage). Governance meets ANSI Essential Requirements. Certification complements ISO/IEC 42001. Box Commons does not advocate for or against regulation.