Education draft for local sponsors and counsel

Model resolution — right to compute

For a city, county, or state legislature. This is not introduced legislation and is not a PAC script.

Title: A resolution affirming the right of persons to acquire compute and to possess and run open-model weights for lawful purposes without a general-use permit.

WHEREAS lawful persons in this jurisdiction use computing tools, including artificial intelligence systems, in work, study, and civic life; and

WHEREAS a general permit or approved-user caste for civilian use of artificial intelligence would concentrate capability in government and a small number of firms; and

WHEREAS the possession of open-model weights and the operation of models on hardware a person controls is a form of speech and property, subject to ordinary criminal law for unlawful uses;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that it is the sense of this body that:

  1. Lawful persons should be free to buy compute, possess open-model weights, and run artificial intelligence on hardware they control, without a general-use permit.
  2. Licensing, if any, should attach to specific high-risk uses, not to a class of approved persons.
  3. Closed commercial APIs may be offered; they should not be the only lawful means of using artificial intelligence.
  4. Nothing in this resolution limits enforcement of existing criminal law.

Year-one use: if the founder’s home state has no live permit bill, take this draft to one friendly locality after counsel review.