What a Binding AI Treaty Must Contain
A press release is not a treaty. These are the clauses that make the document real. Without them, it is theater.
A clear prohibition
Ban development and deployment of AI systems above a defined general-capability threshold. The line must be technical enough for inspectors and plain enough for legislatures. No scheduled sunset that restarts the race by default.
Compute and facility controls
License large training clusters. Track advanced chips. Require reporting on runs above threshold. Hardware is the verifiable surface.
An inspectorate with teeth
A standing international body with access rights, modeled on the IAEA: routine inspections, challenge inspections, and the power to report noncompliance to member states.
Domestic implementing law
Treaties bind states; statutes bind companies. Each party needs national rules, penalties, and regulators that can shut down an illegal run inside its borders.
Narrow-AI carve-outs
Explicit protection for beneficial limited systems so the treaty cannot be painted as a ban on medicine or science. Precision is political armor.
Amendment only by evidence
Any future relaxation requires demonstrated, independently reviewed proof that control is solved, not a lab press cycle or a boom in stock prices.