AI License Audit

An AI license audit is a structured review of whether a model, dataset, or AI tool can be used under the conditions a company has in mind. The question is not simply whether something is marketed as open source. The relevant details are the actual license terms: commercial use, redistribution of weights, deployment in regulated industries, output rights, training data restrictions, export controls, documentation duties, and any thresholds that change the allowed use. In practice, an AI license audit should happen before benchmarking, prototyping, or procurement. It keeps teams from investing in technically attractive models that later fail legal, contractual, or operating requirements. The audit connects technical evidence such as model cards, weight availability, and hosting architecture with legal and risk requirements. This is becoming more important because many high-performing models now ship with custom licenses rather than familiar standard terms. A good audit makes the model choice defensible before engineering work starts.