A telecommunications company plans to use an AI model to predict customer lifetime value (CLV) and offer service upgrades preferentially to high-CLV customers. An AI risk team conducts a disparate impact assessment and finds that high-CLV customers are disproportionately White and high-income. What recommendation should the AI risk team make?

B is correct because even though CLV is facially race-neutral, when its application produces racially disparate outcomes in customer service quality, this can trigger consumer protection and equal treatment obligations. The team must assess the legal and regulatory implications in the relevant jurisdiction and consider whether alternative eligibility criteria can achieve the business objective with less disparate impact. A is incorrect because facially neutral criteria that produce protected-class disparate outcomes are not automatically acceptable. C does not address the issue — CLV is already calculated without race/income but correlates with them due to historical socioeconomic disparities. D is overly restrictive; the goal is to manage risk, not eliminate a business tool.