# About CARE

Canonical: https://careinstitute.ai/about/
Published: 2026-09-25
Author: CARE Institute
Code licence: Apache 2.0 (https://github.com/CAREInst)

> CARE Institute is an independent research nonprofit in San Francisco. We work on one problem: where may an AI agent send each request?

## Our answer, in three steps

Our answer has three steps. Classify each request by how sensitive it is. Route it only to models cleared for that class, on a device or in the cloud. Audit every choice so a reviewer can check it later. We publish our methods, code, and data so that anyone can test them.

## Mission

CARE exists because the agentic future is not cloud-or-local. It is a routing problem. Every query has a sensitivity profile. The right architecture classifies first, routes second, keeps protected data where policy says it must stay, and logs every routing decision. CARE builds the science and the open tools for this.

## What we do

**Measure.** We run open, repeatable tests on privacy-routing systems. We publish our methods, code, and data so that anyone can test them.

**Build.** We release our code under Apache 2.0. The first public release is the replication harness for “The Cost of Governance”.

**Guide.** We write for leaders and policymakers, and we scope every number we publish.

## Research areas

**Security.** Can the system resist attacks? Injection, extraction, re-tokenization.

**Privacy.** Does private data stay private? Query-by-query, across PHI, PII, and privileged information.

**Cost.** What does safety actually cost? We measure how much time governance checks add to each API call.

**Speed.** Can the system be safe and fast? On-device vs frontier, routed per query.

Contact: [info@careinstitute.ai](mailto:info@careinstitute.ai)

## What is privacy routing?

Privacy routing decides where an AI agent may send each request. It has three steps. Classify each request by how sensitive it is. Route it only to models cleared for that class, on a device or in the cloud. Audit every choice so a reviewer can check it later.

More questions about routing: https://careinstitute.ai/#questions

## Legal name

CARE Institute (Center of Agentic Research and Education) is an independent AI research nonprofit based in San Francisco.