Values Charter
v2 · in effect as of 25 August 2026
Our mission
Pause IA’s priority is to safeguard the future of our civilisation in the face of the dangers of artificial intelligence. AI must remain at the service of humanity, not the other way around.
We are AI researchers, experts, science communicators, artists and volunteers from all walks of life. Human beings first and foremost, we call for a pause in the creation of the most advanced AI models in order to solve the outstanding safety and ethics problems.
We are keenly aware of the vital importance of our mission, which we take on with seriousness and responsibility.
What are our values ?
Our values are numbered in order of priority. When two values conflict, the one ranked higher prevails. We expect everyone within the movement to uphold them at all times and to be able to invoke them by their number to resolve a disagreement.
- Non-violence. We will never use, encourage or tolerate violence, including property damage, threats or jokes about violence. Our movement is strictly peaceful and lawful. A single breach, wherever it happens, harms the whole group, everywhere.
- Beneficial or not at all. AI must be developed in a way that benefits humanity, or not developed at all. This is our reason for being.
- Intellectual rigour. We represent the state of knowledge as faithfully as possible. We acknowledge uncertainty and do not overstate our claims to win a debate. We are open to criticism and to the possibility that we are wrong about the best way to achieve our goals. Our credibility depends on it.
- Honesty. We have no hidden agenda and no conflicts of interest, so we are free to say what we believe. We do not water down our message to make it more palatable.
- Diversity of risks, unity in action. Whether you are concerned about existential risk, cybersecurity, job losses or threats to democracy, we are united in our determination to pause the development of frontier AI. We set our differences aside to advance our common goal.
- No partisan politics. AI safety is not yet a left-versus-right dividing line, and we intend to keep it that way. We do not let other political opinions distract us from our mission.
- Transparency by default. We act and discuss publicly and openly, unless there is a good reason not to. Our website is open source, our community spaces are open to all, and our reasoning is published. Being accessible lowers the barriers to getting involved.
- Bias for action. We do not wait for perfection before acting. We encourage initiative and get projects done, even without significant funding. The perfect is the enemy of the good.
- Community and inclusiveness. A movement rests on human relationships. We are driven by volunteers and everyone can contribute. We create welcoming spaces to meet, build connections and feel at home. Everyone, whatever their background, has a place here.
- Using AI is acceptable. Even though we want to stop the development of frontier AI, we are entirely comfortable using existing AI to help us achieve our goals. We do not give in to purity spirals.
