OpenMined has joined the Open Forum for AI (OFAI), an international initiative focused on advancing human-centered and ethical approaches to artificial intelligence (AI). Launched at Carnegie Mellon University in 2024, OFAI convenes academic institutions and nonprofit organizations to foster collaboration, transparency, and inclusion in the development of AI systems.
As a new partner institution, OpenMined will participate in OFAI’s Data Working Group, which brings together diverse expertise and perspectives to represent a broad range of global stakeholders involved in open AI infrastructure. Through its work, the Data Working Group provides guidance on how data can be governed, shared, and stewarded in ways that promote openness while remaining transparent, equitable, and accountable. Key areas of focus include mapping critical stakeholders in open AI infrastructure, developing policy and governance frameworks for responsible data use, and building partnerships that expand and strengthen the ecosystem of openness in AI.
“We’re excited to welcome OpenMined to the Open Forum for AI,” said Carnegie Mellon University Libraries Associate Dean for Digital Infrastructure and Director of the Open Source Programs Office Sayeed Choudhury, executive director of OFAI. “Their leadership in building open source solutions for accessing, sharing, and training with data responsibly for AI systems will be instrumental to advancing OFAI’s mission. We are particularly pleased to have them join the OFAI data working group.”
Founded in 2017, OpenMined is an open-source community focused on making privacy-preserving technologies accessible to developers worldwide. The organization develops tools that enable AI training on sensitive data without compromising individual privacy, a critical capability for building trustworthy AI systems.
“To foster public trust, AI has to be built on data practices people can understand and rely on,” said Andrew Trask, Executive Director of OpenMined. “OFAI creates an important space for collaboration on these questions, and we’re excited to contribute our perspective alongside a diverse set of partners.”
The Data Working Group, which OpenMined joins alongside organizations including the Alliance for Responsible Data Collection (ARDC), Creative Commons, Common Crawl, and the Open Source Initiative, contributes technical and governance expertise to OFAI’s work on an open infrastructure stack for AI, including curated datasets responsibly acquired and hosted on publicly managed infrastructure such as supercomputing facilities.
About OpenMined
OpenMined is a nonprofit open-source community building tools for privacy-preserving artificial intelligence. Through technologies like federated learning, differential privacy, and encrypted computation, OpenMined enables AI development that respects individual privacy while advancing beneficial applications.
About Open Forum for AI (OFAI)
Led by Carnegie Mellon University, Open Forum for AI is an international initiative designed to support responsible and human-centered artificial intelligence. By fostering collaboration across academia, civil society, government, and industry, OFAI seeks to build a more open, inclusive, and accountable AI ecosystem.