SustainaCore announces Q4 2025 rebalance of the TECH 100 AI Governance & Ethics Index

The Q4 2025 review of the TECH 100 AI Governance & Ethics Index shows a steady landscape with selective shifts, as companies tempered headline-grabbing announcements with incremental improvements in disclosure and compliance. The average AI Governance & Ethics Score (AIGES) for the 100-company universe was essentially flat at 45.23 versus 45.24 in Q2, with modest pillar-level moves: Transparency ticked up (+0.03), Stakeholder Engagement edged higher (+0.02), while Governance Structure softened (−0.04) and Regulatory Alignment eased slightly (−0.01). These small deltas reflect a quarter in which most firms maintained their posture while a handful advanced policy clarity or faced renewed scrutiny.

Beneath the calm aggregate, a few names stood out. Cisco led the positive movers, rising +1.0 AIGES points (to 91), supported by fresh disclosures around its responsible-AI program and community engagement. Apple also gained +1.0 (to 79), as its privacy-first, on-device approach to artificial intelligence remained a core differentiator for ethics-minded users. Microsoft added +0.2 (to 95), reflecting continued alignment work with emerging European frameworks, and it retains the top spot in the index. These advances were concentrated in Transparency, Ethical Principles, and Stakeholder Engagement, consistent with our scoring model’s emphasis on public, verifiable evidence.

The Universe itself remains unchanged (refresh occurs annually), and index equal-weighting is maintained at the rebalance effective 1 October 2025.

Methodologically, this quarter reaffirms two themes. First, incremental transparency still matters: small but concrete steps—model documentation, compliance notices, stakeholder initiatives—continue to earn positive attribution. Second, safety and governance failures carry outsized downside, particularly when courts, regulators, or credible primary sources corroborate harm or oversight lapses. SustainaCore will keep prioritizing primary, freely accessible evidence and mapping it to the five pillars—Transparency, Ethical Principles, Governance Structure, Regulatory Alignment, and Stakeholder Engagement—to ensure a consistent, decision-useful lens for investors and stakeholders tracking responsible AI at scale.