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 — it 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, no board seat, 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 — 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.