Foundation models have rapidly permeated society, catalyzing a wave of generative AI applications spanning enterprise and consumer-facing contexts. While the societal impact of foundation models is growing, transparency is on the decline, mirroring the opacity that has plagued past digital technologies (e.g. social media). Reversing this trend is essential: transparency is a vital precondition for public accountability, scientific innovation, and effective governance. To assess the transparency of the foundation model ecosystem and help improve transparency over time, we introduce the Foundation Model Transparency Index. The Foundation Model Transparency Index specifies 100 fine-grained indicators that comprehensively codify transparency for foundation models, spanning the upstream resources used to build a foundation model (e.g data, labor, compute), details about the model itself (e.g. size, capabilities, risks), and the downstream use (e.g. distribution channels, usage policies, affected geographies). We score 10 major foundation model developers (e.g. OpenAI, Google, Meta) against the 100 indicators to assess their transparency. To facilitate and standardize assessment, we score developers in relation to their practices for their flagship foundation model (e.g. GPT-4 for OpenAI, PaLM 2 for Google, Llama 2 for Meta). We present 10 top-level findings about the foundation model ecosystem: for example, no developer currently discloses significant information about the downstream impact of its flagship model, such as the number of users, affected market sectors, or how users can seek redress for harm. Overall, the Foundation Model Transparency Index establishes the level of transparency today to drive progress on foundation model governance via industry standards and regulatory intervention.

翻译：基础模型已迅速渗透社会，催生了一波覆盖企业及消费者场景的生成式人工智能应用。尽管基础模型的社会影响与日俱增，但其透明度却呈下降趋势，反映出困扰过往数字技术（如社交媒体）的不透明性。扭转这一趋势至关重要：透明度是公共问责、科学创新与有效治理的关键前提。为评估基础模型生态系统的透明度并推动其持续改进，我们提出了基础模型透明度指数。该指数通过100项细粒度指标全面规范基础模型的透明度，涵盖构建基础模型所需的上游资源（如数据、人力、算力）、模型本身的细节（如规模、能力、风险）以及下游应用（如分发渠道、使用政策、受影响地域）。我们依据这100项指标对10家主要基础模型开发商（如OpenAI、Google、Meta）进行评分，以评估其透明度。为促进评估的标准化与可操作性，我们针对各开发商旗舰基础模型（例如OpenAI的GPT-4、Google的PaLM 2、Meta的Llama 2）的实践进行评分。基于评估结果，我们提出关于基础模型生态系统的10项顶层发现：例如，目前尚无开发商公开其旗舰模型下游影响的关键信息，包括用户数量、受影响市场领域或用户寻求损害救济的途径。总体而言，基础模型透明度指数确立了当前透明度水平，旨在通过行业标准与监管干预推动基础模型治理的进步。