Simon Chesterman on AI agents should be granted legal perso…

Simon Chesterman

Vice provost at the National University of Singapore, professor of Law and author

Neither is yet sufficient to justify conferring personhood on AI. [...] existing frameworks can address short-term accountability gaps.

AI Verified source (Jan 6, 2026)

3mo ago

Policy proposals and claims

AI agents should be granted legal personhood as non-human corporations

votes Against

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AI Verified The quote qualifies because, in the source context, it is part of the author’s argument against granting AI legal personhood at present, including by analogy to corporate-style non-human personhood. The abstract says current rationales are insufficient and existing frameworks handle near-term accountability, and the paper elsewhere says legal systems presently "should refrain" from conferring personality on AI and that the corporation analogy "fails in crucial respects." That makes the author’s present opposition to the complete statement clear. ([arxiv.org](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.02773)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified The paper argues against granting AI legal personhood now: it says current instrumental and inherent rationales are "not yet sufficient to justify conferring personhood on AI," and adds that existing legal frameworks can cover short-term accountability gaps. That strongly implies opposition to the statement as a present policy, even though the abstract leaves open possible future reconsideration. ([arxiv.org](https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02773)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified The given arXiv page lists Simon Chesterman as the sole author, shows the paper was submitted on 2026-01-06, and its abstract contains the exact opening clause and later the exact phrase about "existing frameworks"; the [...] omission is faithful, so the stored quote, author, date, and source URL are correct. ([arxiv.org](https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02773)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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Simon Chesterman votes For

AGI could make governments subordinate to the companies that develop it

Sovereignty — understood as the authority to set rules, allocate resources, and shape collective futures — is migrating from public institutions to private actors. These 'silicon sovereigns' set rules, adjudicate disputes, police speech, shape labor ...

more Disputed source (2026)