Take control of AI now - before a crash writes the rules for you
Waiting for an AI bubble to burst is a risky bet. If markets crack, the loudest voices in the room will be the ones with the most to lose - and the most access to decision-makers.
Public agencies need clear options on the table now. That means bailout terms that protect citizens, levers to shut down unsafe systems, and the authority to restructure firms when needed.
A practical playbook governments can deploy now
- Create an AI Stabilization and Resolution Authority: Give it legal power to intervene in critical AI infrastructure firms, similar to bank resolution tools.
- Pre-commit bailout terms: Any support comes with equity, voting rights, board seats, strict conduct rules, and a path to break up monopolies.
- Force structural separation: Split model development, data platforms, app stores, and cloud hosting into distinct entities to end self-preferencing and lock-in.
- License high-risk AI and register large training runs: Require traceability, safety cases, red-teaming, and incident reporting within defined timelines.
- Set energy and water guardrails: Permits for new data centers must include power caps, water plans, peak-load shedding, and community benefit agreements.
- Mandate independent audits: Security, model behavior, data provenance, and copyright compliance - verified by accredited third parties.
- Build shutdown and containment levers: Legally require providers to maintain verifiable kill-switches, rate limits, and compute throttles that regulators can trigger under defined conditions.
- Fix procurement: Ban dark patterns and auto-renewals, require exportable data/models, and favor interoperable, standards-based solutions.
- Protect workers and communities: Tie any public support to wage floors, retraining funds, and commitments to keep high-value jobs onshore.
- Coordinate internationally: Align on licensing thresholds, model reporting, compute export controls, and joint incident response.
If the bubble bursts: bailout terms that serve the public
- Public equity with full voting rights: Buy majority stakes at crisis prices only in firms delivering clear public value, with options and warrants for upside.
- Break up and localize: Direct reorganizations into national companies that pay taxes where value is created and follow local content and copyright law.
- Conduct rules: No buybacks or dividends, caps on executive pay, open APIs, and data portability as conditions for support.
- Time-bound exit: Invest in useful infrastructure and staff, restore solvency, then sell shares for taxpayer profit.
Keep essential resources for people first
AI growth strains grids and water systems. Where power or water is tight, pause new hyperscale data centers until basic services and resilience are secured.
Tie permits to transparent reporting on energy mix, water use, heat-reuse plans, and local investment. If providers cannot meet the bar, they do not get to build. For context on sector impacts, see the International Energy Agency's analysis of data centers and networks here.
Guardrails so systems cannot resist oversight
As systems and infrastructure concentrate, shutdown attempts can be delayed or avoided unless the rules are clear and enforceable. Build technical and legal controls now.
- Compute controls: Require cloud providers to support regulator-verified throttling, isolation, and remote disable mechanisms for licensed high-risk uses.
- Key escrow and access: Safety-critical models ship with revocation keys held by independent trustees under court order to activate.
- Network containment: Pre-approved traffic rules to isolate misbehaving services at internet exchange and cloud edge layers.
- Incident playbooks: Tested drills with providers, CERT teams, and utilities; 24/7 contacts; hour-by-hour public reporting protocols.
Accountability, tax, and market structure
- Tax where activity occurs: Single-country tax nexus for each operating entity; public country-by-country reporting.
- Copyright compliance: Require documented licenses or exceptions for training data; enable collective licensing bodies to be paid at source.
- Interoperability by default: Open file formats, exportable embeddings, and non-discriminatory API access to prevent gatekeeping.
- Competition enforcement: Block acquisitions that bundle compute, data, and distribution into closed stacks.
Workforce and economic resilience
- Transition funds: Use targeted wage insurance and retraining vouchers in sectors at clear risk of displacement.
- Public R&D and local capacity: Fund academic and civic compute pools so research and smaller firms can compete.
- Education for public servants: Short, role-based training so teams can buy, evaluate, and audit AI with confidence. A quick starting point is these course lists by job.
What to do in the next 90 days
- Draft an AI crisis resolution bill with equity-for-support and breakup provisions.
- Issue a licensing order for high-risk systems and set training-run reporting thresholds.
- Publish a moratorium policy for new data centers in stressed grids and watersheds.
- Stand up an independent audit program and accredit auditors.
- Run a national tabletop exercise on AI incident response with major providers and utilities.
- Update procurement rules to require interoperability, data portability, and fair exit terms.
- Launch a public registry of large models, safety cases, and audit summaries.
Standards and guidance worth using
- NIST AI Risk Management Framework - practical controls and governance patterns overview.
The point is simple: set the terms now. If a crash comes, you'll have the tools to protect citizens, keep essential services stable, and rebuild markets on fair ground. If it doesn't, these rules still deliver accountability, safer systems, and better value for the public.
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