Questions, answered.

AI SIGMA -- the AI Standards Institute for Global Machine Adoption -- is a practitioner-led founding initiative developing deployment-layer standards for AI adoption. Its three lines of work are model contract clauses, deployment conformance criteria, and practitioner standards. AI SIGMA is being organized as a 501(c)(6) trade association. AI SIGMA was convened by Marc Hoag, the inaugural Chair of the Beverly Hills Bar Association's AI & the Law Section.

The Frontier Model Forum is a frontier-lab consortium with a non-lobbying charter focused on safety information-sharing among the labs themselves. AI SIGMA is a practitioner-led standards initiative focused on contract language, conformance criteria, and professional standards across the deployment layer. Different mandate, different membership, complementary work.

Partnership on AI is a 501(c)(3) multistakeholder forum that publishes guidance and frameworks. AI SIGMA is being organized as a 501(c)(6) trade association developing contractable, deployable standards. Different legal structure, different output type, distinct constituencies.

No. The AI safety institutes are government bodies -- CAISI in the United States, AISI in the United Kingdom, the EU AI Office, and the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. AI SIGMA is a practitioner-led initiative on the deployment-layer side, translating what those bodies establish into contract-level and practice-level tools.

"Adoption" refers to the deployment-side use of AI by enterprises, governments, and other organizations -- the procurement, integration, operation, and continuity of AI systems in actual production. AI SIGMA uses "adoption" rather than "alignment" or "safety" because the operative layer is contracts, conformance criteria, and practitioner standards, not the technical alignment problem (which is the proper domain of the safety institutes and frontier labs).

AI SIGMA is currently a practitioner-led founding initiative. Funding mechanics, including member dues and any sponsorship arrangements, will be published as the founding cohort and the first standards approach public release.

The Founding Co-Chair of AI SIGMA is also the inaugural Chair of the BHBA AI & the Law Section. AI SIGMA is an independent initiative, not a BHBA program. The two are conceptually allied but legally and organizationally separate. AI SIGMA is designed as a cross-functional standards initiative for legal, technical, procurement, compliance, policy, and product stakeholders -- broader than the bar-association audience.

The first public work product -- Model Contract Clauses for Frontier AI Deployment, v0.1 -- is currently in development and scheduled for public release in Q3 2026. The founding cohort announcement is scheduled for the same window.

Not yet. AI SIGMA is developing public conformance criteria for AI deployment readiness. A formal certification program may follow after the criteria, governance, and assessor processes are established. Until then, AI SIGMA does not represent that any organization is "certified by AI SIGMA."

The founding cohort is by invitation, drawn from practitioners across the AI deployment layer (attorneys, technical leads, procurement professionals, compliance officers, policy experts, and AI product leaders). To submit interest, see the membership page and complete the request form. The Founding Co-Chair personally reviews every submission.

For general inquiries, email [email protected]. For press inquiries, email [email protected]. The Founding Co-Chair is also reachable through his LinkedIn profile, linked from his bio on the About page.

Marin County, California. The Institute is internationally scoped in mission and membership.