Narrow Path
About
A Narrow Path is a policy framework published in October 2024 by the staff of ControlAI, a nonprofit campaign organization founded in 2023 and headquartered in London. The document, hosted at narrowpath.co, is described as a plan to ensure the survival and flourishing of humanity against the threat of artificial superintelligence. It argues that humanity currently has no reliable method to control an AI system vastly more intelligent than humans, and that if attempts to build superintelligence succeed without adequate governance, the result could be human extinction. The framework is divided into three phases. Phase 0 (Safety) proposes immediate domestic measures: governments should establish computational thresholds and licensing regimes that prevent the development of ASI for approximately twenty years, while also restricting dangerous capabilities such as autonomous self-improvement and environmental escape. Phase 1 (Stability) calls for these domestic measures to be internationalized through a treaty-based system comprising three institutions: a central regulatory authority, a dedicated AI safety research body, and an independent judicial body to resolve disputes and enforce compliance. Phase 2 (Flourishing) addresses how, once adequate safety foundations are in place, transformative AI can be integrated into society — including healthcare and economic development — while remaining under meaningful human control. ControlAI, the organization behind A Narrow Path, is a company limited by guarantee in the UK and a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization in the US. It was founded by Andrea Miotti, who previously served as Head of Strategy and Governance at Conjecture, a UK AI safety research company. ControlAI has briefed over 150 cross-party UK parliamentarians and the Prime Minister's office, and secured public support from over 100 UK lawmakers for their superintelligence campaign. The organization has also authored draft bills for both the UK and US legislatures and led international coalitions of experts and lawmakers. A Narrow Path serves as the core intellectual and policy document underpinning all of these advocacy efforts.
Theory of Change
A Narrow Path operates on the premise that artificial superintelligence poses an existential risk because humanity currently cannot predict or control the capabilities of AI systems far more intelligent than us. The causal chain runs as follows: by publishing a credible, detailed governance framework and actively lobbying policymakers in the UK, US, and internationally, ControlAI aims to shift the political Overton window so that binding restrictions on frontier AI development become politically feasible. If national governments adopt Phase 0 measures (compute thresholds, licensing, capability restrictions), ASI development can be delayed for roughly twenty years — enough time to build the international institutions and scientific understanding needed in Phase 1. International treaty bodies would then enforce compliance and fund safety research. If this succeeds, transformative AI can eventually be developed under conditions that keep it under human control, rather than in a race-to-the-bottom dynamic that risks extinction.
Details
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- Expected Duration
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- Funding Raised to Date
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- Last Updated
- Apr 3, 2026, 1:20 AM UTC
- Created
- Apr 3, 2026, 1:20 AM UTC