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FairByDesign is independent of the vendors and institutions it examines. Reader and institutional support funds the reporting, research, public explanations and Evidence Lab work that remain available outside the commercial layer.

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Want to give more each month? The Community Support Circle below starts at $100. Support of any size never buys editorial control.

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Four ways in, from free to institutional. Support and paid access are different choices: support keeps the public work open; Mercury Intelligence buys access to the deeper layer.

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Two Ways to Support

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For individuals & professionals

Community Support Circle

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For people who follow the work, use it, and want it to keep existing — supporter updates, early notice of public releases, and optional recognition.

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For backers who can steward the public-interest layer at scale — optional recognition, briefings, and the option to sponsor a theme. Pay by card, bank transfer, or request an invoice.

What Your Support Makes Possible

Open-Access Analysis

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The Ethics Engine

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Evidence Lab

Controlled, reproducible tests of what AI security and governance claims actually deliver, with methods published for others to check.

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Room for honest public-interest work that stays independent of the vendors and institutions it examines.

Now Funding: Public Tools You Can Use Today

Your support also sustains 500 Ways You Can Change the System — practical, free public tools built from Mercury Intelligence findings. Seven are live now: an AI-or-workflow decision tool, a value scorer, a governance stopgate, a readiness brief generator, a human escalation auditor, a support-loop failure analyzer, and an automation harm evidence builder. Eighteen more are planned.

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We welcome advertisers and sponsors, from tools and products readers may find useful to podcast, video and YouTube sponsorships, as long as there is absolutely no conflict of interest with our independent reporting.

How it works

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What patronage is — and isn’t. Patronage supports the work. It does not purchase editorial control, investment rights, equity, repayment, revenue share, or financial return. Underwriters can sponsor a theme — an explainer, a field note series, a podcast episode — but never the conclusion. Independence is the point.

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