# Definitional Valve **Domain:** AI Governance / Classification / Sovereignty **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition The **definitional valve** is the point where a proposed definition becomes a legal or administrative gate: a classifier determines which systems fall inside a rule, who may build or distribute them, and which evaluator can authorize release. The category is upstream of the penalty. An apparently technical phrase can distribute burdens across architectures before anyone reaches an enforcement decision. ## In the September 2026 argument [[articles/war with empire/The Real No Kings Moment and Who Wrote the Super-intelligence Ban|The Real No Kings Moment]] examines the sponsors’ summary of the proposed [[wiki/Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act|Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act]], including the phrase “exhibits or can easily be modified to exhibit.” Openly distributed model weights can be modified by outsiders in ways closed weights cannot. The article argues that this may create unequal regulatory burdens, while explicitly leaving open whether final statutory text and implementation would create a categorical closed-lab exemption. The British [[wiki/Artificial Superintelligence Security Bill|bill]] is a distinct proposal and must not be merged with the U.S. sponsor summary. The valve raises a constitutional sequence: who drafted the category, who interprets it, who evaluates a system against it, who receives an exemption, who hears an appeal, and what it costs to leave the regime. The need for genuine safety rules does not itself answer any of those questions. ## Relationships - **Mechanism:** [[wiki/Semantic Jurisdiction|Semantic Jurisdiction]] supplies the category; [[wiki/Sovereignty by Adjudication|Sovereignty by Adjudication]] turns classification into participation or exclusion. - **Evaluation:** [[wiki/First-Mover Evaluation Authority|First-Mover Evaluation Authority]] and [[wiki/UK AI Security Institute|UK AI Security Institute]] concern the institutions that may test and interpret the category. - **Political stakes:** [[wiki/Cognitive Non-Domination|Cognitive Non-Domination]] asks whether the authority remains contestable; [[wiki/Exit Cost|Exit Cost]] measures the burden of refusal. - **Source and route:** [[articles/war with empire/The Real No Kings Moment and Who Wrote the Super-intelligence Ban|The Real No Kings Moment]] in [[collections/War With Empire|War With Empire]].