Brian Degati proposes amendments to Intro 2602 kill switch language
Brian Degati, founder of Supernova Technologies with pending patents on hardware-based AI shutdown, supports Intro 2602 but says it must define the shutdown mechanism as something the model cannot access, modify, delay, or disable. He proposes three short amendments and independent tamper-evident records.
Thank you, Speaker Menon and members of the Council.
My name is Brian Degati.
I'm the founder of Supernova Technologies in Madison, Wisconsin.
I hold pending patent applications on hardware-based AI authorization and shutdown.
I have a commercial interest, so please weigh my testimony accordingly.
I support T2026-2602, requiring both independent validation and a shutdown capability is the right structure.
I want to raise one question the bill leaves open.
Where does the shutdown capability live?
Section 20-883 says nothing about that.
A software setting inside the same environment the model runs in would satisfy the definition.
But a system that can reason about its instructions can potentially reason its way around a control it can reach.
A compromised system can simply switch that control off.
Aircraft, payment networks, and the power grid keep the safety interlock on separate equipment the protected system cannot touch.
I propose three short amendments, about 100 words in total.
First, in Section 20-883, define the shutdown capability as a mechanism the model cannot access, modify, delay, or disable.
Second, in Section 20-885, have validators confirm that by trying to defeat it.
A validator who reads a specification confirms a claim.
A validator who attempts to defeat the mechanism confirms that it works.
Third, in Section 20-886, have the Office of Cyber Command set independent standards, scaled to risk, and provide for tamper-evident records at fixed intervals.
With those records, a gap becomes evidence.
Without them, silence looks like safety.
A switch the system can reach is a request.
A switch it cannot reach is a control.
The bill should require the second kind.
Thank you.
My written testimony contains the exact language, and I welcome any questions.
Your time is up, but thank you for your testimony.
Please, since you have detailed amendment suggestions, please send it in.
You can send it to testimony at council.nyc.gov, and we'll review it.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
Up next, we have Ashna Agarwal.
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