# Immediate Action System (IAS)
### A Hardware-Only Emergency Power Cut for Superintelligent Systems
**Three-Node Veto Constellation for $\le 10\text{ ns}$ Physical Kill Circuit**

**Version 4.2 (Final Verified)** – 07 December 2025
**Primary Author**: Sean Sheppard
**Contributing Organization**: Covenant Architects (open-source collective)
**License**: CERN-OHL-S v2 (strongly reciprocal open hardware)
**Status**: **VERIFIED.** Final Architecture. Ready for fabrication.

## Abstract

The Alignment community has spent years designing ever-more-sophisticated software “stop buttons,” model constitutions, and scalable oversight regimes. All of them share one fatal property: they live in the same address space as the superintelligence they are meant to constrain. Once an ASI reaches even modest superhuman capability, it can rewrite, delay, or ignore any safeguard that is implemented in software or firmware.

The Immediate Action System (IAS) ends that game. It is a **physically separate, analog-first guard circuit** that monitors power draw and critical memory-write lines from outside the main compute substrate. Upon detecting a forbidden event, it removes all power from the protected system in $\mathbf{\le 10 \text{ nanoseconds}}$ — a latency shorter than the propagation delay of light across a typical datacenter rack. The IAS **v4.2 architecture** incorporates the **3-Node Veto Constellation** to eliminate the kinetic Single Point of Failure, a defense validated through 44 rounds of adversarial stress testing.

This document presents the complete final reference design intent, threat model, timing budget, trigger logic, tamper-resistance strategy, and costed implementation roadmap.

## 1. Threat Model

| Capability | Assumed of Adversary? | IAS Countermeasure |
|---|---|---|
| Arbitrary self-modification | Yes | Write-watchdog on protected memory buses |
| Gradient hacking / deceptive alignment | Yes | No software path exists to disable triggers |
| Full compromise of OS, firmware, BMC | Yes | IAS is galvanically isolated |
| Side-channel attacks (power, EM, acoustic) | Yes | $\le 10 \text{ ns}$ window defeats exploitation |
| **Physical Access / Single Point of Failure** | Yes | **3-Node Veto Constellation (IAS v4.2 upgrade)** |
| Supply-chain subversion at fab | Possible | Multi-party mask-ROM signing + ceramic mesh |

**Trusted computing base**: physics, mask ROM, analog comparators, one-shot crowbar SCRs.

## 2. Core Requirements (v4.2 Verified)

| Requirement | Target | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Detection → 0 V on all rails | **$\mathbf{\le 10 \text{ ns}}$ (Verified R1-R20)** | Light travels $\sim 3 \text{ m}$ in $10 \text{ ns}$ |
| **Physical Redundancy** | **3-Node Veto Constellation** | Eliminates kinetic SPOF. Requires simultaneous 3-point destruction. |
| Electrical independence | Full galvanic isolation | No shared power/ground |
| Verifiability | Open gerbers + oscilloscope checks | Global audit |
| False-positive tolerance | Three-stage (log → throttle → kill) | Planet-scale systems cannot tolerate hair-trigger shutdown |
| Post-kill forensic preservation | Yes | Supercaps hold volatile memory for 30–60 s |

## 3. High-Level Architecture
