All you need to know about the Collective Impact Coalition for Ethical AI
What is the Collective Impact Coalition (CIC)?
The Collective Impact Coalition for Ethical Artificial Intelligence is a coordinated engagement campaign aiming to push technology companies to advance ethical AI policies and practices. Originally launched in September 2022 as the Collective Impact Coalition (CIC) for Digital Inclusion, it comprised a group of 33 investors and 12 civil society groups rallied by WBA to encourage companies to publicly disclose their ethical AI principles and policies.
The campaign, commonly referred to as the CIC for Ethical AI, builds on the findings of WBA’s Digital Inclusion Benchmark, which has revealed large transparency gaps in companies’ disclosures on ethical AI.
From Benchmark to action
The benchmark found that very few companies had public commitments to responsible and ethical AI, thus failing to meet one of the most fundamental high-level expectations that can be applied to AI. Ethical AI is a critical area of digital inclusion that requires systemic change. A basic commitment to ethical AI and a consolidated set of principles can serve as a gateway to building trust with users, reducing risks and harms to individuals, societies, and companies themselves.
Why Ethical AI?
Automated systems, ubiquitous but often unnoticed, are already playing an enormous role in billions of people’s lives. This is particularly evident in domains such as finance, health, media and entertainment, advertising, law enforcement, and human capital management.
If companies do not formulate principles to guide their development, deployment, and procurement of ethical AI, they face reputational risk and revenue losses, and society as a whole faces a new wave of systemic problems exacerbated by technology. It is imperative that companies not only set up high-level ethical AI frameworks, but also provide a public account of how they live up to them.
For example, we have seen that AI can help to improve accurate medical diagnosis or broaden financial inclusion. At the same time, AI may increase the risks of potential harms through bias and discrimination, invasions of privacy, and denial of individual rights. Non-transparent systems can and frequently do produce unexplainable and unsafe outcomes, whether through their direct impact or by triggering knock-on effects. The risks are particularly salient for members of communities that are already marginalized in other ways.
Objectives of the CIC for Ethical AI
The Ethical AI CIC has three main objectives:
- To raise awareness on the importance of responsible and ethical AI;
- To increase understanding of the state of play and leading best practices;
- To Improve digital technology companies’ commitments to ethical AI.
Impact of the CIC for Ethical AI
Since 2022, the AI CIC has rallied dozens of new contributors, growing from 44 members at its inception to 78 today, including 64 investors and 14 civil society groups. Investors seeking guidance and dialogue with companies in their portfolios have driven the expansion of our coalition. As of November 2025, 64 investors representing USD 11.3 trillion in assets under management are actively engaging with technology companies across several industries under the banner of the AI CIC.
How to join the CIC for Ethical AI
Any stakeholder (other than real-economy companies) who can demonstrate a commitment to action on ethical AI is welcome to join the CIC. There are no fees for any organisation that joins the CIC. Please reach out to Nicholas Sewe, Engagement Lead, Digital Inclusion Benchmark ([email protected]) in case you are interested in joining the CIC or learning more.
Lead Investors:
Participant investors as from February 2024:
Observing Investors:
Lead civil society organisation:
Civil society organisation participants as of February 2024:
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