Explain like I'm five · AI Security

What is an AIBOM?

AIBOM, told as a story about a certificate that records exactly where every ingredient in this dish came from.

ingredients keep coming innobody asks where they came fromlater, if one shelf turns out bad,no one knows which supplier it came fromnobody wrote down where the ingredients inside the dish actually came from

Nobody wrote down where the ingredients inside the dish actually came from.Even once you know an ingredient went bad, there's nowhere to trace it back to.

base recipe (pretraining)added ingredients (fine-tune data)pluginoutside tooleven someone else's tools get mixed inone dish layers a base recipe, added ingredients, and outside tools, all at oncetoo many layers to trace from memory alone

One dish layers many kinds of ingredients at once.A base recipe, added data, outside tools — too many layers to trace from memory alone.

toolINGREDIENT CERTIFICATEbase recipe — which kitchenadded ingredients — which batchoutside tools — which vendorlicense · known issuesAIBOM = a certificate recording where every ingredient in this dish came froma paper meant for inside the kitchen — inspectors, the manager — not the guest at the table

An AIBOM is a certificate recording where every ingredient in this dish came from.It's a paper for inside the kitchen — inspectors and the manager, not the guest.

List the base recipewhich kitchen's recipe it is
List added ingredients & batchwhich batch it came from
List the supplierwhich vendor made each outside tool
List license & known issuesusable commercially? what's already known to be off
INSIDE ONE CERTIFICATEbase recipe — Kitchen B, v2.3added ingredients — spring 2024 batchsupplier — Vendor Clicense — commercial use ✓known issue — a certain spice runs heavythe manager checks it before decidingthe inspector checks it when something goes wrong

The certificate records the recipe, ingredients, supplier, license, and known issues.The manager checks it before deciding; the inspector checks it when something goes wrong.

AIBOM — just this dishtraining data & model onlyused inside the kitchenthese are from a clean farm (a lie)trust what's written and a lie slips through tooAIBOM covers only this model's data — the whole software's parts list is an SBOM

Having the paper doesn't catch it if the supplier lies on it.An AIBOM covers only this model and its data; the whole software's parts list is the job of an SBOM. Trusting what's written without checking is exactly the gap a supply chain attack slips through.

In one breath

AIBOM = a certificate recording where every ingredient in this dish came from. It lists the base recipe, added ingredients, outside tools, and license — for use inside the kitchen, by the manager and the inspector.

An AIBOM (AI Bill of Materials) is a record of the provenance of the data and components that went into a model: the base model (pretraining), the versions and batches of fine-tuning datasets, any third-party models or plugins pulled in, licenses, and known vulnerabilities or bias issues. Unlike an SBOM, which covers an entire software stack's parts, an AIBOM is specific to AI models and data. It's essential for tracing back 'where it went wrong' when a supply-chain incident happens.

When grown-ups say it

AIBOM
This dish's ingredient origin certificate. A paper for inside the kitchen, not the guest-facing label.
vs. SBOM
The whole software's parts list. AIBOM covers only the AI model and data portion of it. → the security world's SBOM
Supply chain attack
Tainted ingredients already mixed into the pantry. A false certificate can't close this gap on its own. → the security world's supply chain attack
Base recipe (pretraining)
The dish's foundational training. It's the starting point for every dish. → the parrot world's pretraining
Fine-tune data
Ingredients added later, on top of the base recipe. Which batch it came from has to be on record. → the parrot world's fine-tuning
Open-weight model
A recipe released for anyone to pick up and use. Even a borrowed one needs its origin on the certificate. → the parrot world's open weights
License check
Whether this ingredient may be sold for profit. It's one line on the certificate — but skip it and it becomes a big problem later.
vs. the dish's label
The certificate is for the kitchen; the label is for the guest. The guest-facing label is a separate page. → the dish's label
Next story
The Dish's Label →
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