Moving beyond voluntary commitments requires shifting from " ," social norms, and self-regulation toward hard law. One practical approach involves establishing a strict liability regime. If a company releases a model that triggers catastrophic biological or cyber failures, they should be legally responsible for the damages, regardless of intent. This puts a massive financial penalty on negligence and incentivizes rigorous safety testing before deployment.
Another option is a licensing model similar to how the nuclear or aviation industries operate. Governments could require companies to obtain permits before training massive models. These permits would depend on passing mandatory, third-party audits and demonstrating containment protocols. Inspectors with subpoena powers could examine proprietary code and compute usage to ensure companies aren't cutting corners.
Regulatory bodies also need technical teeth. Instead of just writing guidelines, these agencies must have the authority to issue cease-and-desist orders and freeze assets. We could see
