Unit 02

Mechanisms by which it may be achieved

This unit covers concrete ways a third party might check claims about AI development. It is deliberately broad, so you can choose a track to focus on in Unit 3.

As you read, keep the claim being verified separate from how the evidence for it is gathered. Usually the claim itself is a single thing, say that a given workload is not being run, or that a chip is where it claims to be. What changes from one paper to the next is the evidence channel, such as an on-chip attestation, an off-chip measurement, a cryptographic proof, physical access for a human inspector, or a certification regime.

How to use this unit Eleven required readings, about six hours

Read the system overview first, then move through the tracks in any order.

Start here

READ 2.1 Required 25-35 min

A system overview for near-term, low-trust AI compute verification

Naci Cankaya (2026)

A working draft of a complete verification system, covering sensing, proofs, what information can safely cross the boundary, and the assumed adversary.

What to read

Sections 1 to 3.

Link
READ 2.2 Optional 15-20 min

Faster AI Diffusion Through Hardware-Based Verification

Ammann and Dalrymple (Institute for Progress, 2025)

Introduces hardware-based, privacy-preserving verification as a way to support wider AI diffusion while limiting misuse, protecting intellectual property and reducing compliance burdens.

What to read

The full article.

Link

Hardware-rooted

Mechanisms that try to make the chip, package or attached hardware produce evidence about where it is, what it is allowed to run, or what work it performed.

READ 2.3 Required 35-55 min

Secure, Governable Chips

Aarne, Fist et al. (CNAS, 2024)

Makes the policy case for on-chip governance. Secure hardware could support export-control enforcement, operating licences and future agreement verification without creating a general surveillance back door.

What to read

Executive summary, technical underpinnings, implementation challenges and recommendations.

Link
READ 2.4 Required 35-50 min

Flexible Hardware-Enabled Guarantees (flexHEG)

Petrie et al. (2025)

A concrete architecture for adding a guarantee processor around AI accelerators, so a regulator can get workload guarantees while the operator keeps models and data private.

What to read

Abstract, introduction and the section ‘Conceptual Overview of the FlexHEG Design Stack’.

Link

Inference verification

Checking whether an output plausibly came from the claimed model, even when exact deterministic replay is unavailable.

READ 2.5 Required 15-25 min

Example Schemes for Verifying High-Stakes AI Agreements

Amodo Design (2026)

A plain-language introduction that frames inference verification as selective recomputation. The verifier checks randomly chosen steps, so the prover cannot know in advance which work must be reproducible.

What to read

The full post.

Link
READ 2.6 Optional 30 min

Verifying AI Compute by Bounding Unexplained Information Exfiltration

Petrie and Mühlhäuser (2026)

Proposes hardware-independent verification using prover isolation, cryptographic commitments and challenge-based recomputation to bound unexplained information in network outputs.

What to read

Full.

Link

Zero-knowledge proofs

Proving a claim about a model or training run without revealing the weights or data.

READ 2.7 Required 20-25 min

Zero Knowledge Proofs: An Illustrated Primer

Matthew Green (2014)

Explains what a zero-knowledge proof is using the graph three-colouring protocol, covering completeness, soundness and zero-knowledgeness, and how digital commitments replace the physical hiding step.

What to read

The full post.

Link
READ 2.8 Required 15-20 min

Zero-knowledge verification for frontier AI training is possible

Peigne et al. (2026)

A proposal for proving properties of a frontier training run without revealing the model or dataset, using a proving architecture designed around the training trace.

What to read

Abstract and introduction.

Link
READ 2.9 Optional 30-45 min

Trustless Audits without Revealing Data or Models

Waiwitlikhit et al. (2024)

The shortest introduction to ZK audit logic. Shows how to prove that training or evaluation was computed correctly while keeping the model, data and audit details hidden.

What to read

The full paper.

Link

Telemetry and detection

Reading network, timing, memory and other side-channel signals to infer what a cluster is doing.

READ 2.10 Required 3-5 min

The Fundamentals and Feasibility of Secure Network Taps

Naci Cankaya (2026)

Network taps are much more plausible for low-bandwidth north-south traffic than for high-bandwidth east-west accelerator fabric, where link budgets and covert channels dominate.

What to read

The three-minute summary only.

Link
READ 2.11 Optional 60-80 min

What does it take to catch a Chinchilla? Verifying Rules on Large-Scale Neural Network Training

Shavit (2023)

The compute-monitoring proposal that later work builds on, based on inspecting chips and datacentres well enough to detect large training-rule violations. Its most distinctive idea is proof of learning from training checkpoints, which is closer to proving a training run than to telemetry.

What to read

The full paper.

Link

Memory and physical evidence

Evidence from the physical layer, covering proofs of memory erasure, tamper detection around chips and enclosures, and verification from outside the chip.

READ 2.12 Required 20-30 min

Memory Wipes, a Performance Analysis

Amodo Design (2026)

First numbers for proof of secure erasure on real hardware. RAM and GPU memory on a GB200 tray wipe in about 43 minutes, but the SSDs drag a full wipe towards 24 hours, which makes disk the binding constraint. The graph-labelling scheme shows how a verifier checks the wipe without trusting the prover's hardware.

What to read

The full post.

Link

Attestation and audit

Trusted environments, audit protocols and certification regimes that produce evidence someone else can check.

READ 2.13 Required 30-45 min

Governing Through the Cloud: The Intermediary Role of Compute Providers in AI Regulation

Heim et al. (2024)

Explains why cloud providers are attractive intermediaries for AI regulation. They already sit between users and compute, and can record, verify or enforce some rules at lower cost than direct state inspection.

What to read

Introduction, the governance-capacities section, and the conclusion.

Link
READ 2.14 Required 20-30 min

Attestable Audits: Verifiable AI Safety Benchmarks Using Trusted Execution Environments

Schabl et al. (2025)

A TEE-based audit protocol for proving that a benchmark ran on a specific model and dataset while keeping sensitive model and benchmark details protected.

What to read

The full paper.

Link

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