Marc Faddoul: Developing the AT infra ecosystem and governance

Marc Faddoul , from Free Our Feeds, gives a talk at ATmosphere Conference 2025 in Seattle

I’m Marc from Free Our Feeds. By training, I’m a computer scientist, but my day job isn’t Free Feed. I run a nonprofit called AI Forensics, and our mission is to hold big tech platforms accountable. We study the enshitification of current platforms and conduct algorithmic audits on TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and others.

This work has fueled my interest in building better alternatives. A few years ago, in 2021, I started a project called YouChoose, which aimed to create alternative recommender systems for YouTube through a browser extension. More recently, last year, I was involved in regulatory efforts in France to introduce the concept of algorithmic pluralism into law, which is currently in progress.

All these efforts eventually led me to join the Free Feed project with a group of digital rights activists, each of us balancing other day jobs. The vision we share is simple but ambitious: break free from billionaire-controlled platforms and build a more equitable digital ecosystem.

The project is built around three pillars:

1. Infrastructure Infrastructure equals power. We are establishing a foundation that will be independent from corporate interests. This foundation will operate part of the AT infrastructure. We plan to start with a second relay based in the European Union for a variety of reasons, which I’ll touch on shortly. We’re also considering launching a PDS service as another component of this infrastructure.

2. Public Interest Governance and Regulation The governance of the AT protocol could benefit from inclusion in standard-setting organizations to ensure it continues to reflect the public interest. Part of our work involves supporting these efforts and advocating for regulatory measures, particularly interoperability regulation in Europe.

You may have heard of the “Brussels effect,” which has both pros and cons. It’s why we have data portability and why devices allow USB-C ports. Similarly, messaging app interoperability, such as between Signal and WhatsApp, is a regulatory requirement starting soon. This gives us hope that we could push for social media interoperability at a systemic level, impacting the whole industry.

Currently, the Digital Fairness Act is being discussed in the EU. Some tech-savvy members of the European Parliament are pushing for social media interoperability to be included, and we see this as an important opportunity to influence the global ecosystem.

3. Supporting an Innovation Ecosystem Our third pillar focuses on building a strong community around the protocol. Ideally, we’ll raise funds to support multiple projects, not only social media platforms but also web applications beyond social apps, built on AT.

Since our launch a few months ago, the project has grown from a side effort to raising around $250K, mostly through crowdfunding, with some seed funding from smaller foundations. We aim to raise $4 million by the end of the year. These funds will allow us to hire an executive director, a policy lead, and our first engineer to begin building the relay, which we hope to have operational by year-end. We’re also in talks with a European cloud provider to provide free infrastructure support.

What excites me about being here is learning from the community about the needs for infrastructure expansion. For instance, hosting a second relay in Europe gives a sense of ownership and sovereignty to European regulators, and growing the ecosystem in the EU increases interest in promoting the protocol and interoperability regulation.

Finally, the Ahai Conference will take place in Europe next month, and it would be great to see more of you there.

That’s it. I kept it short.