"“Hardwired Pause” should likely be your favorite (pause) plan." by David Scott Krueger

I'm part of a team of 26 researchers that recently released a 212-page paper proposing a new plan for pausing AI, the "hardwired pause." The paper is called "The Feasibility of a Hardwired Pause of Frontier AI Training." Our analysis suggests that, under this hardwired pause plan, we could probably pause for at least a decade if we start stopping within the next year, and this could likely be extended indefinitely. I expect this to be possible without trusting China or tanking the economy.

Note: I am speaking for myself and not the other 25 authors. The working group is led by Will Fithian and Wesley Holliday, and the work continues.

I currently think:

1. The best plan is to pause/stop AI, i.e. have an immediate, indefinite, international moratorium on frontier AI development. And importantly, this is technically easier than more nuanced international regulation.
2. A hardwired pause is probably the best plan out there for how to do this (except maybe it doesn't go far enough).
3. This paper is likely the most in-depth analysis of pause feasibility in existence.

Discussion and disagreement on any of these is very welcome!

What's a hardwired pause?

A hardwired pause basically [...]

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Outline:

(01:31) What's a hardwired pause?

(03:21) Why is this better than Plan A?

(05:06) How is this different from MIRI's Plan S?

[... 3 more sections]

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First published:
November 10th, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jT272BNHFzgAR5u2m/hardwired-pause-should-likely-be-your-favorite-pause-plan

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