The AI Safety Menu

All laws

Checks before lab use

Safety checks before internal use. Test and safeguard a model before the lab's own researchers use it, not just before the public does.

Cuts lead by~4 daysof America's lead over China, over 3 years
Cuts p(doom) by~0.25%from a 5% starting estimate
Holds up○ Training● Lab's own use○ Public release
Enact it on the menuSee the findings

What it does

Before a lab's own staff can use a new frontier model, for example to write code and run experiments, the lab must finish its dangerous-capability tests and put safeguards in place, the same way it would before a public launch.

Applies to: Frontier models, at the point of internal deployment.

Where things stand

Labs already test models before release, and some safeguards now apply internally. OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra system card says its Preparedness Framework required safeguards even for internal deployment because of the model's cyber capabilities. California's SB 53 requires a framework for managing risk from internal use. What labs do not do is hold every new model back from their own staff until testing is done.

Why it costs ~4 days

Researchers keep using the previous model while the new one is tested, so the loss is only the extra help the newest model would have given. About a day over a year.

Biggest unknown: How long labs would hold a model back from their own staff while tests finish.

Why it lowers p(doom) by ~0.25%

Catches dangerous models before labs use them in-house, where they help build the next model.

Many risk scenarios start inside the lab, where a powerful model helps build its successor. Checking models before internal use targets that.

The strongest case that it costs more

As labs automate more of their own research, the internal window becomes the whole race. If a model has to wait for full testing before it can help build its successor, and testing keeps getting longer, the cost could reach a month or more per generation and compound.

The debate

For

Sources

Rough starting points, not precise forecasts. Lead costs assume China doesn't depend on U.S. models, the case least favorable to safety laws, and count 3 years. On the menu you can change every assumption and put in your own numbers. Last priced 2026-09-26.