01 / The mechanism and its boundary
What is being described
The Centre for the Governance of AI (GovAI) describes itself as a think tank that aims to help decision-makers in government and industry navigate the transition to a world with advanced AI S-1818. It was founded at Yale University in 2016, was an academic centre at the University of Oxford from 2018, and became an independent nonprofit in 2021 S-1818. Technical governance is one of its focus areas S-1818.
Two of its policy papers bear on verification:
- A 2024 paper by Sastry, Heim and colleagues argues that AI-relevant compute is "detectable, excludable, and quantifiable" and produced through an extremely concentrated supply chain S-0053. It describes compute as a lever for regulatory visibility, for allocating resources and for enforcing restrictions on AI development and use S-0053. The claims on compute stock, inference versus training and bandwidth between compute groups draw on it.
- A 2023 report by Trager and colleagues proposes an International AI Organization that certifies state jurisdictions, not firms, for compliance with international oversight standards S-0061. States would back the standards by restricting imports from uncertified jurisdictions and by controlling exports of inputs such as specialised hardware S-0061.
Sources and provenance
- S-1818 / Tier B
About us: Centre for the Governance of AI (GovAI) ↗
· 2026 · Centre for the Governance of AI
Supports: self-description as a think tank; founding at Yale, Oxford years, independence in 2021; technical governance as a focus area
Version and catalogue details - S-0053 / Tier B
Computing Power and the Governance of Artificial Intelligence ↗
G. Sastry, L. Heim, H. Belfield, M. Anderljung, M. Brundage, J. Hazell, C. O'Keefe, G. K. Hadfield, R. Ngo, K. Pilz, G. Gor, E. Bluemke, S. Shoker, J. Egan, R. F. Trager, S. Avin, A. Weller, Y. Bengio, D. Coyle · 2024 · arXiv
Supports: compute governance paper: AI-relevant compute is detectable, excludable and quantifiable; three policy uses
Locator: abstract
Version and catalogue details - S-0061 / Tier B
International Governance of Civilian AI: A Jurisdictional Certification Approach ↗
R. Trager, B. Harack, A. Reuel, A. Carnegie, L. Heim, L. Ho, S. Kreps, R. Lall, O. Larter, S. Ó hÉigeartaigh, S. Staffell, J. J. Villalobos · 2023 · Centre for the Governance of AI
Supports: jurisdictional certification proposal with import restrictions and export controls on hardware
Locator: abstract
Version and catalogue details
- Source review date
- 2026-09-25
- Drafted by (source map)
- ai
- Review handles (source map)
- codex-review