The Opportunity for Community-Led Audits in the U.S. in 2026
Our new companion piece to the Guide to Community-Led AI Audits maps where community-led auditing is most urgently needed in the U.S. right now: a pretrial risk-scoring landscape where no algorithmic tool has ever been independently audited with structured community participation; a Federal Data Services Hub determining Medicaid, SNAP, and disability benefits for millions that has never been audited at all; and ride-hailing and gig-wage algorithms operating with zero disclosure requirements in most states — against a backdrop of 42 state attorneys general demanding AI accountability and $500 million in funder commitments already on the table.
This piece gives U.S. funders and policymakers a direct map from Eticas Foundation's five completed community-led audits to their American equivalents, the regulatory openings that make each project actionable in 2026, and the funders already aligned to back the work.
