FAQ

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Frequently asked questions

What prospects ask before they sign.

By Axiom Ethics3 min read

Frequently asked questions

01

What does an ethics audit actually cover?

An Ethics Audit covers one named system or design proposal — evaluated across multiple ethical traditions — and produces a written report with severity-tagged findings, a cross-tradition rationale for each finding, and a 60-minute readout with the team. Explicitly out of scope: ongoing review, multi-system portfolio audits, board-facing memos, and regulator-facing filings. Anything that asks for those shapes is an Advisory Retainer or an Eval Sprint, not an audit.

02

How is sensitive evaluation data handled?

A mutual NDA is signed before any evaluation data crosses the wire. Eval data stays on encrypted infrastructure for the duration of the engagement and is either deleted on close or returned to the client on request — the engagement letter names which. Axiom does not publish case studies, anonymised or otherwise, without the client's written consent, and Axiom does not establish attorney-client privilege; that's a function of the client's outside counsel, not the consulting engagement.

03

How long does a typical engagement last?

An Ethics Audit runs roughly four weeks end-to-end on a fixed scope. An Advisory Retainer is monthly and ongoing — sized to the team's cadence rather than a calendar. An Eval Sprint runs two to four weeks, scoped to a specific question. All three are anchored on a Days 3 / 7 / 14 cadence on introspective evaluation work, and a discovery call happens before any scope is locked — never after.

04

Who runs this and what is the prior work?

Axiom is founder-led — David runs every engagement through Axiom Ethics LLC. Engagements run the gamut from short advisory reviews to multi-month audit-methodology retainers across AI-safety and alignment-research teams. Priors are filed under Speaking, Codex, and the blog.

05

How is pricing structured?

Three named tiers — Ethics Audit, Advisory Retainer, and Eval Sprint — are listed on the pricing page. Indicative bands: an Ethics Audit starts in the low-five-figures USD depending on scope; an Advisory Retainer is a monthly block sized to team cadence; an Eval Sprint is a fixed fee sized to the question itself. The final price is set on the intake call — there is no published rate card, because scopes vary too widely for one to be honest.

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