You can now proactively verify your identity (with a passport or government ID) in case it’s needed for future frontier model access in Amp. We think it probably will be, and we want Amp to keep giving you access to the best models available to you. We can’t guarantee access criteria or timelines. Those depend on (highly uncertain) government and model lab policy. We don’t plan to impose any additional restrictions beyond what is required by law and the model labs. We are covering the cost for identity verification for all users, and we’re using Stripe for identity verification, so Amp stores nothing and sees only the outcome. ampcode.com/settings/identit…

I woke up this morning feeling pretty uneasy about the Mythos/Fable situation. not because this one decision is the end of the world, it isn’t. but bc it feels like a glimpse of the world we may be heading toward. AI is quickly becoming the most important capability layer in society. it will shape who can learn, build, defend themselves, start companies, access markets, create wealth, and understand the world around them. and already, access to that capability is being permissioned. - first by the enterprise, deciding who gets access to the best models. - then by price, deciding who can actually afford to use them. - now by the state, deciding who is allowed to access them based on nationality and jurisdiction. that is what makes me very uncomfortable. bc once access to intelligence becomes something granted by a small number of companies and governments, the world starts to split into haves and have-nots. if some people have access to dramatically better intelligence, they can learn faster, build faster, earn faster, defend themselves better, and compound knowledge and capital at a rate others cannot match. that gap does not stay static, it only widens. and if we allow that structure to harden, it may become almost impossible to unwind. this once again shows why censorship-resistant infrastructure matters. crypto was born from the belief that access to money and financial rails should not depend entirely on the discretion of states and institutions. AI expands that same problem from money to intelligence itself. I do not think every restriction is automatically illegitimate as these systems are powerful, and there are real risks. but precedent matters. and the precedent being set is that access to intelligence can be controlled by a handful of enterprises and states. that is a future we should be very careful about sleepwalking into...

Sovereign AI means AI is sovereign

why do we have to pay rent for names?

freedom vs control decentralization vs centralization self expression vs community oppression libertarian vs totalitarian life vs death

The choice is not between socialism and capitalism. It’s between socialism and freedom.