AI Ethical Use Policy

1. Purpose

AlignAI Labs, Inc. (“AlignAI” or the “Company”) is committed to the responsible development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This policy establishes the ethical principles and behavioral standards that govern how AI is built, used, and governed within AlignAI and in the products and services we deliver to customers.

As an AI-focused company, we recognize that the systems we create and operate carry meaningful societal impact. This policy reflects our commitment to ensuring that AI is used in ways that are fair, transparent, safe, and respectful of human rights and privacy.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

All employees, contractors, consultants, and interns of AlignAI Labs, Inc.
Third-party vendors and partners who develop, integrate, or operate AI systems on behalf of AlignAI
All AI systems, machine learning models, large language models (LLMs), and automated decision-making tools developed, procured, or deployed by AlignAI
Internal AI tooling used by employees in the course of their work

This policy applies globally across all AlignAI business units, products, and geographic locations.

3. Definitions

For the purposes of this policy:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) System — any software, model, or automated process that uses machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, or similar techniques to perform tasks that would otherwise require human judgment.
Generative AI — AI systems capable of generating text, images, code, audio, or other content, including large language models (LLMs) and diffusion models.
High-Risk AI Use — use of AI in contexts where outputs could significantly affect individuals’ rights, safety, employment, finances, healthcare, legal standing, or access to services.
AI Operator — any employee or team responsible for deploying, managing, or maintaining an AI system within AlignAI or on behalf of a customer.
Training Data — data used to develop, fine-tune, or evaluate AI models.

4. Core Ethical Principles

All AI activity at AlignAI must be guided by the following principles:

4.1 Fairness and Non-Discrimination

AI systems must not perpetuate, amplify, or introduce unfair bias against individuals or groups based on protected characteristics including race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or national origin. We commit to:

Evaluating training data and model outputs for disparate impact before deployment
Conducting bias audits on AI systems used in consequential decisions
Remediating identified bias before deploying or continuing to operate an AI system

4.2 Transparency and Explainability

AlignAI will be transparent about when and how AI is used, both internally and with customers. We commit to:

Disclosing AI involvement in products and services in clear, plain language
Providing meaningful explanations for AI-driven decisions that affect individuals, to the extent technically feasible
Maintaining documentation of model architecture, training data sources, and known limitations

4.3 Human Oversight and Accountability

AI systems should augment, not replace, human judgment in high-stakes decisions. We commit to:

Ensuring a human is responsible and accountable for every AI system in production
Maintaining human review processes for AI outputs in high-risk contexts
Retaining the ability to override, correct, or shut down any AI system at any time
Assigning a named owner for each AI system deployed internally or to customers

4.4 Privacy and Data Minimization

AI systems must respect individual privacy and handle personal data responsibly. We commit to:

Using the minimum amount of personal data necessary to achieve the intended purpose
Complying with applicable data protection laws (including GDPR and CCPA) in AI data pipelines
Not using personal data in AI training without appropriate consent or legal basis
Implementing privacy-by-design principles in AI development workflows

4.5 Safety and Reliability

AI systems must be designed to operate reliably and avoid causing harm. We commit to:

Testing AI systems thoroughly before deployment, including adversarial and edge-case testing
Monitoring AI systems in production for unexpected, harmful, or degraded behavior
Maintaining incident response procedures for AI-related failures or misuse
Applying appropriate safety guardrails to generative AI models

4.6 Security

AI systems must be secured against malicious exploitation. We commit to:

Assessing AI systems for security vulnerabilities including prompt injection, model inversion, and adversarial attacks
Protecting training data and model weights with appropriate access controls
Including AI systems in the scope of AlignAI’s information security program

4.7 Sustainability and Societal Impact

We recognize that AI has broader societal implications. We commit to:

Considering the environmental impact of large-scale AI training and inference
Refusing to build or deploy AI applications that could cause widespread societal harm
Engaging constructively with regulatory developments and industry standards around responsible AI

5. Acceptable Use of AI

Employees and contractors may use AI tools and systems for work purposes subject to the following conditions:

Use AI tools only for lawful, legitimate business purposes aligned with your role
Do not input confidential company information, customer data, or personal data into third-party AI tools (e.g., public LLM interfaces) unless explicitly approved by the Security or Legal team
Review and verify AI-generated outputs before using them in customer-facing content, code, legal documents, financial analysis, or other high-stakes contexts
Attribute AI involvement appropriately when submitting AI-assisted work products
Report any unexpected, harmful, biased, or concerning AI output to your manager and the Security team
Follow all applicable data protection and confidentiality policies when working with AI systems

6. Prohibited Uses of AI

The following uses of AI are strictly prohibited at AlignAI:

Using AI to discriminate against, harass, surveil, or harm individuals
Generating or distributing disinformation, deepfakes, or deliberately misleading content
Using AI to deceive individuals into believing they are interacting with a human when they are not, without appropriate disclosure
Developing or deploying AI for autonomous lethal decision-making or weapons systems
Using AI to circumvent security controls, access unauthorized systems, or conduct cyberattacks
Training AI models on data obtained without appropriate legal basis, consent, or licensing
Using AI to engage in unauthorized data scraping, profiling, or surveillance of individuals
Deploying AI systems in high-risk contexts without completing a risk assessment and obtaining approval
Using personal AI accounts or unauthorized third-party AI tools to process company or customer data

7. AI Risk Assessment

Prior to deploying any new AI system — whether developed internally or procured from a third party — the responsible team must complete an AI Risk Assessment. The assessment must evaluate:

The intended use case, scope, and affected populations
Potential for bias, discrimination, or disparate impact
Privacy implications and data handling requirements
Security risks including prompt injection, model poisoning, and adversarial inputs
The level of human oversight built into the system
Regulatory and compliance implications
Residual risks and proposed mitigations

High-risk AI deployments require written approval from the Head of Security and, where applicable, Legal or Compliance. The risk assessment must be reviewed and updated annually or whenever a material change to the system occurs.

8. Third-Party AI and Vendor Management

When procuring or integrating third-party AI systems or AI-enabled services, AlignAI will:

Conduct due diligence on the vendor’s ethical AI practices, bias testing, and data handling
Require vendors to comply with this policy where they operate AI on AlignAI’s behalf or on behalf of customers
Ensure contractual protections are in place covering data use, model behavior, and liability
Review vendor AI systems as part of AlignAI’s Third-Party Management Policy

Employees must not introduce new third-party AI tools into the production environment or connect them to company data without prior approval from Security and Legal.

9. Governance and Accountability

AlignAI establishes the following governance structure for ethical AI oversight:

9.1 AI Policy Owner

The Policy Owner (see cover page) is responsible for maintaining this policy, overseeing compliance, and ensuring the policy is reviewed at least annually.

9.2 AI System Owners

Every AI system in production must have a designated owner who is accountable for its behavior, risk posture, compliance with this policy, and incident response.

9.3 Reporting Concerns

Employees who observe potential violations of this policy, including harmful, biased, or unexpected AI behavior, are expected to report concerns promptly to their manager and the Security team through the designated reporting channel. Reports may also be submitted anonymously through available reporting channels. AlignAI prohibits retaliation against any person who reports a concern in good faith.

10. Training and Awareness

All employees who develop, deploy, or regularly use AI systems as part of their role must complete AI ethics and responsible AI training at time of hire and annually thereafter. Training content will cover:

The principles in this policy and how they apply in practice
Recognizing and reporting AI bias, failures, and misuse
Secure and privacy-respecting use of AI tools
Regulatory requirements relevant to AI (including EU AI Act obligations as applicable)

11. Violations and Enforcement

Violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment or contract, consistent with AlignAI’s progressive disciplinary procedures. Serious violations — such as deploying prohibited AI systems, processing customer data without authorization, or generating harmful AI content — may be referred to legal authorities where required by law.

Requests for an exception to any provision of this policy must be submitted in writing to the Policy Owner and approved in advance.

12. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed at least annually by the Policy Owner, or sooner in response to material changes in AlignAI’s AI systems, applicable law, or the regulatory landscape. Updates will be communicated to all relevant personnel.