Project summary

It's a transparency platform that publishes all the publicly accessible data regarding a companies AI use. We provide summary, details, and cited sources. If we get something wrong there's a dispute flow, and a form to upload information. Completely non-partisian, unbiased, we can't be bought. It's owned by a non-profit i incorporated tax-exempt 501(c)(3) Massachusetts, Trace Foundation.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

I'm looking to prevent the information from actually getting stale, which in turn expands the value to average consumers + government and researchers trying to see AI deployment and it's affects. I can handle building multi-stage discovery, and enforcing human verificatio nstandards and code guards. but i can't handle cash, cash is what blocks the system from scanning which then in turns prevents us from getting more information to lawmakers.

Legislator citing the record would be number one. Then having enough data to valuably publish datasets and error rates to the public. Error rate proves that the money worked, including giving number on data expansion.

How will this funding be used?

Mainly covers our automated research discovery, right now we get thousands of data points when running at full effort, it's impossible for a human to verify and our pipeline costs money. So majority will go to API metering to expand the data we currently have on companies (and verifying) as well as expanding far past the 280 companies number. Costs about $52-150 full scan, 6.6 per record verification pass. $52-150 doesn't sound like much until you realize to expand information, it needs to happen mutiple times a month, possibly a day. Past that i'm the only employee handling engineering and admin, so i need to hire contract engineering for the verification/provenance tooling (and any other government requirements), editorial stipends to hire human verifier volunteers. with $2,500 we fund the API pipepline, $10,000 we harden the system, cover operating costs + volunteer work.

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

This is my full-time job. I'm passioniate about AI, and understand the wonders it can do, as well as the bad. Companies purposely make it complicated to find out how they deploy AI, even if it touches every consumers lives. The numbers on our site is real, and so is the data, with the money we can expand more, and improve. I hold myself accountable, running error rates, and benchmarks which i plan to display publicly, because it's more than me. I think it takes a certain type of person to turn this idea into reality, a non-profit, and then hold themselves accountable the same way they do companies.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

The record goes stale. Someone looks at the record and sees a company doesn't deploy AI in a way they disagree with so they use their services, but our information is stale, and now they are using a service that violates their rights (harvesting data, data mining, training etc). We have failed them, and at worse, led them to make a decision they will never question. If it goes under, the site freezes a snapshot in time, if it succeeds it grows.

How much money have you raised in the last 12 months, and from where?

No money raised, except for $5,091.90 cents of Trent's own donations.

We have a donation option accessible on the https://www.aitrace.org/donate site for individual donations.

No grants or institutional money yet since our March 16th 2026 formation.

Pending, Lightcone Commons ($50k ask, decision October), BlueDot Rapid ($3k, submitted August 26th), Awesome Foundation ($1k, two chapters pending),