Thinking Upstream: Ethics and Policy Opportunities in AI Supply Chains

TL;DR

This paper argues that AI ethics should be grounded in supply-chain reasoning, treating AI production as a network of upstream dependencies that embed value and harms. It introduces the concept of values levers to surface upstream opportunities for policy, design, and activism. Drawing on human rights frameworks, ESG disclosures, and procurement policies, it outlines concrete pathways such as regulatory standards, choosy government procurement, and ethical licensing to influence upstream data and labor practices. The analysis highlights practical implications for governance, industry practice, and civil-society oversight by moving ethics earlier in the AI lifecycle.

Abstract

After children were pictured sewing its running shoes in the early 1990s, Nike at first disavowed the "working conditions in its suppliers' factories", before public pressure led them to take responsibility for ethics in their upstream supply chain. In 2023, OpenAI responded to criticism that Kenyan workers were paid less than $2 per hour to filter traumatic content from its ChatGPT model by stating in part that it had outsourced the work to a subcontractor, who managed workers' payment and mental health concerns. In this position paper, we argue that policy interventions for AI Ethics must consider AI as a supply chain problem, given how the political economy and intra-firm relations structure AI production, in particular examining opportunities upstream.