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

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

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

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Summary
 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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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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