ETHORITYAI TRUST INFRASTRUCTURE LAYER
Enterprise

ETHORITY Specification

Protocol 1.1 — Trust Lifecycle Standard

Normative specification defining lifecycle states, transitions, continuity enforcement, and downgrade conditions for AI systems.

L0 ObservedL1 DeclaredL2 VerifiedL3 AnchoredL4 Monitored
L0 Observed → L1 Declared → L2 Verified → L3 Anchored → L4 Monitored
Trust is governed as a deterministic state machine. Each transition is explicit, time-bound, and ledger-recorded.
Descriptive overview →Transition pricing →

Document status

Version: 1.1
Status: Active draft
Maintainer: ETHORITY

1. Purpose

This protocol formalizes trust in AI systems as a deterministic lifecycle state machine governed by explicit transitions and verifiable records.

• Trust is externally referenceable.
• Trust is time-bound.
• Trust degrades without continuity.

2. Scope

Applies to AI systems including models, agents, integrated deployments, and decision-support configurations where drift, updates, or operational change may alter lifecycle state.

Non-goals:
• Safety certification
• Regulatory substitution
• Qualitative scoring

3. Definitions

  • AI System: A defined deployable configuration.
  • Snapshot: Deterministic fact record at time T.
  • Verification: Cryptographic integrity validation.
  • Anchoring: Public timestamp preservation.
  • Monitoring: Continuity enforcement mechanism.
  • Downgrade: Explicit lifecycle state reduction.

Full glossary →

4. Lifecycle states

Observed — Existence recorded.
Declared — Identity and scope asserted.
Verified — Artifact integrity validated.
Anchored — Timestamp preserved publicly.
Monitored — Continuity conditions enforced.

States are explicit. Transitions are explicit. No implied persistence.

5. Transitions

Valid transitions

  • Observed → Declared
  • Declared → Verified
  • Verified → Anchored
  • Anchored → Monitored

Downgrade triggers

  • Monitoring lapse
  • Undeclared material change
  • Invalidated artifacts
  • Declared policy violation
Key rule: Verification is not permanent without monitoring.

6. Institutional separation

ETHORITY defines governance rules. The Trust Ledger records immutable, signed lifecycle artifacts. Governance defines. Ledger records.

Trust Ledger ↗  ·  AI Registry →

7. Limitations

This protocol structures trust continuity and verifiability. It does not replace regulatory frameworks or legal authority.

Reading guide

This page is normative. The Lifecycle page is descriptive.

Lifecycle overview →