Policy watch
The rules decide what you can run
Export controls, AI acts, liability rules, procurement, and license enforcement are not background politics for people running models at home. They decide what can be downloaded, what can be shipped, and what a vendor is allowed to switch off. We track the changes and translate them into what they mean for a rig on your desk.
Policy
Nov 5, 2026Superintelligence ban: the bill Congress could actually pass
H.R. 10538 bans superintelligence and pauses advanced AI training above 10^25 FLOP. What it does to open weights, charters, distillation and home rigs.
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Oct 29, 2026No AI bailouts: Congress opens the bankruptcy file
House Democrats' October 28 resolution says failing AI firms go through ordinary bankruptcy. Inside the $518B to $807B obligation stack that prompted it.
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Oct 7, 2026Cyber AI now ships behind a vetting desk
Anthropic's Cyber Verification Program puts its strongest models behind an application. Three labs gate cyber AI this way; open weights are the exit.
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Sep 2, 2026AI agent liability: contracts, insurance, and the gap
Anthropic and OpenAI terms put agent actions on the user with $100 caps. 4,078 AI insurance exclusions are in force. Where the coverage gap sits.
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Aug 31, 2026DSA designates ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox in strictest tier
EU puts ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox under the DSA's strictest tier: 45 million-user threshold, four months to comply, fines up to 6 percent of turnover.
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Aug 31, 2026EU AI Act Enforcement Begins: The AI Office Starts Asking
The EU AI Office sent its first formal requests for information to general-purpose AI model providers on security, evaluations, and monitoring.
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Jul 7, 2026China may curb open-weight AI exports: what it means
China is weighing limits on overseas access to its top AI models, including open weights. What it means for anyone running local AI on hardware they own.
Read the analysisWhy we track this
Local AI is often described as a way around vendor risk. It is not a way around the law. A model you downloaded can still be subject to export controls, a license can still restrict commercial use, and a liability regime can still decide whether your agent can act for you. The point of this page is not to take a party's side. It is to keep the operating constraints visible before you build on a model you cannot replace.