  Foundation models are increasingly consequential yet extremely opaque. To
characterize the status quo, the Foundation Model Transparency Index was
launched in October 2023 to measure the transparency of leading foundation
model developers. The October 2023 Index (v1.0) assessed 10 major foundation
model developers (e.g. OpenAI, Google) on 100 transparency indicators (e.g.
does the developer disclose the wages it pays for data labor?). At the time,
developers publicly disclosed very limited information with the average score
being 37 out of 100. To understand how the status quo has changed, we conduct a
follow-up study (v1.1) after 6 months: we score 14 developers against the same
100 indicators. While in v1.0 we searched for publicly available information,
in v1.1 developers submit reports on the 100 transparency indicators,
potentially including information that was not previously public. We find that
developers now score 58 out of 100 on average, a 21 point improvement over
v1.0. Much of this increase is driven by developers disclosing information
during the v1.1 process: on average, developers disclosed information related
to 16.6 indicators that was not previously public. We observe regions of
sustained (i.e. across v1.0 and v1.1) and systemic (i.e. across most or all
developers) opacity such as on copyright status, data access, data labor, and
downstream impact. We publish transparency reports for each developer that
consolidate information disclosures: these reports are based on the information
disclosed to us via developers. Our findings demonstrate that transparency can
be improved in this nascent ecosystem, the Foundation Model Transparency Index
likely contributes to these improvements, and policymakers should consider
interventions in areas where transparency has not improved.
