Mandate third-party audits for major AI systems

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Arguments for

Independent checks over self-reporting

Supporters say trust cannot rest on self-assessment, voluntary disclosure, or developers' own assurances. They argue major AI systems need independent evaluation, auditability, and validation because the builders alone cannot provide objective accountability.

Trust cannot rest on self-assessment or voluntary disclosure alone. It requires the ability to independently assess systems through auditability, traceability, and validation mechanisms across the AI lifecycle – drawing on established practices from cybersecurity, safety engineer…

Daphné Barbotte · May 14, 2026 · full quote
Self-attestation is not governance. The Chicago Principles describe what assurance must be to deserve the trust markets are now asked to place in it.

AIQA Global · May 28, 2026 · full quote
The most capable frontier AI models cannot be assessed solely by the organizations that build them.

LatticeFlow AI · Jun 4, 2026 · full quote
Despite the rapid advancements, the gaps show that there is a lack of independent verification standards. Today, safety verification relies on proprietary visibility and developers' goodwill rather than rigorous third-party auditing.

Mena El Asady · Jul 7, 2026 · full quote
Our Witness Tried benchmark shows that detection currently works least well for those most at risk, particularly in the global majority. Both must rest on independent third-party oversight. Trust verified by third parties, not asserted by the developers who profit from them.

Sam Gregory · Jul 7, 2026 · full quote

Prevent high-stakes harms

Proponents present mandated third-party audits as safety guardrails for frontier or high-risk systems, with pre-deployment and ongoing testing for dangerous capabilities and the possibility of blocking deployment when risks exceed thresholds. They pair audits with incident reporting and oversight to reduce catastrophic, cyber, biological, deception, or child-safety harms.

Models above a threshold of compute should undergo mandatory testing by a qualified third party for their level of risk in four specific areas: cybersecurity, biological weapons, loss of control of AI systems, and automated R&D that could accelerate these other risks.

Dario Amodei · Jun 10, 2026 · full quote
Our Advanced AI Framework proposes mandatory independent safety testing for frontier models, transparency requirements, and government authority to block or recall dangerous AI deployments.

Anthropic · Jun 12, 2026 · full quote
We need regular mandatory independent safety testing and oversight, mandatory disclosure of security incidents, and international cooperation to keep people safe from absolute disaster.

Greg Casar · Jul 23, 2026 · full quote
Independent third parties need to be part of the evaluation process to avoid bias. And if the risk is above the threshold set by the government, the system shouldn't be allowed to be deployed.

Xinchen Hua Lu · Jul 7, 2026 · full quote
AI chatbots and companions should be subject to mandatory pre-deployment testing and reliable post-deployment monitoring by independent, qualified third parties, with results reported to the regulator/oversight body.

UNICEF · Jun 2026 · full quote

Target the largest systems

Many supporters emphasize that audit mandates should focus on the largest developers and most advanced or compute-intensive models, rather than all AI uses. In their view, threshold-based coverage provides clear rules for major firms while avoiding one-size-fits-all red tape for smaller innovators.

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, and Congress must ensure our regulatory framework keeps pace without undermining American innovation. The FRONTIER Act focuses oversight on the largest developers and most advanced models, requiring transparency, independent evaluatio…

Jay Obernolte · Jul 23, 2026 · full quote
By tying coverage to substantial AI research and development investments and requiring transparency and independent assessments from those developers, the bill avoids one-size-fits-all mandates and allows smaller innovators to spend their time building new technologies instead of…

Scott Franklin · Jul 23, 2026 · full quote
So the RAISE Act asks for companies to do four things. They have to have an SSP. They have to have that SSP audited by a third party, not the government. They actually have to choose their own third party that does that. They have to disclose critical safety incidents, and we def…

Alex Bores · 2025 · full quote
Require the largest AI companies to publish and comply with safety frameworks, submit to third-party audits, and ensure whistleblowers are protected.

Lori Trahan · Jun 1, 2026 · full quote
Requires large frontier developers to create, implement, publish, and annually update a frontier AI framework addressing catastrophic-risk assessment, mitigations, cybersecurity, internal governance, third-party evaluations, and risks from internal use of frontier models. Require…

Mary Edly-Allen · May 19, 2026 · full quote

Build credible audit infrastructure

Another supportive line argues that mandates can work only if there is a qualified, conflict-free ecosystem of independent verifiers with real access to models and clear standards. These quotes call for competitive verifier markets, independence and qualification requirements, unredacted or white-box access, and published standards or certification schemes.

What will work is a competitive market of independent verifiers who are accountable for real-world outcomes and who the government can actually count on.

Andrew Freedman · Jul 23, 2026 · full quote
The legislation requires regular independent third-party safety audits of covered AI systems, ensuring oversight is conducted by qualified experts without financial conflicts of interest.

State of Illinois · Jul 6, 2026 · full quote
Ensuring that external evaluators meet appropriate independence and qualification requirements is critical for the credibility and effectiveness of this evaluation framework.

European AI Office · Jun 12, 2026 · full quote
This audit process mandates that the auditor has access to unredacted versions of the AI model.

Kwame Raoul · Jul 6, 2026 · full quote
To address this emerging challenge and guarantee state-of-the-art AI assurance, external evaluators need deeper access, including white-box access, to counter evaluation awareness that is both ‘verbalized’ and ‘unverbalized’ in the chain of thought.

Apollo Research · May 20, 2026 · full quote
Independent third-party AI testing and assurance providers play an important role in translating AI safety research into repeatable evaluation methods, objective testing reports, certification schemes, and practical risk management support for industry.

The 2026 Singapore Consensus on Global AI Safety Research Priorities · Jul 2026 · full quote

Arguments against

Standards and auditors not ready

Opponents argue that mandatory third-party audits are premature because frontier-model safety auditing lacks recognized standards, certified auditors, established methodologies, and enough available vendors. On that view, companies cannot realistically comply with requirements that do not yet have a robust and uniform way to be done.

Illinois SB 315’s mandatory third-party AI audit requirement creates an impossible compliance burden — there are no recognized auditing standards, certified auditors or established methodologies for frontier model safety audits, yet companies would face penalties up to $3 million…

Amy Bos · May 26, 2026 · full quote
SB 315 would require third-party audits of AI systems, but a sufficient market of qualified auditors does not yet exist. Companies could face significant compliance risk because the vendors needed to meet the bill are not widely available. In addition, there is no consensus on th…

Consumer Technology Association · May 22, 2026 · full quote
This bill contains a critically flawed mandatory third-party audit requirement that creates an impossible compliance obligation on an unrealistic timeline.

NetChoice · May 26, 2026 · full quote
Finally, it’s not clear how well some of the act’s provisions reflect the current state of the AI ecosystem. The act demands that labs hire an independent third party to complete an annual audit of their protocols to ensure compliance with the act. Tellingly, the act does not gra…

Kevin Frazier · Jun 3, 2025 · full quote
You’ll see industry oppose outside auditors and the main reason is they would mandate something that can’t be done [today] in a robust and uniform manner.

Paul Lekas · Jul 8, 2026 · full quote

Costs cascade beyond big labs

Critics say repeated audits, reporting, and disclosures may be manageable for large developers but will raise costs for small and mid-sized employers, deployers, and businesses that rely on AI, with expenses potentially passed on to consumers. They argue these burdens would hit organizations that are least able to absorb uncertain outside-auditor fees.

While the Big Tech developers will easily absorb the audit costs or pass them on through their pricing to consumers, every Illinois business that uses American AI — every hospital, every community bank, every law firm, every manufacturer — will have to pay for that audit in highe…

Jeremy Kudon · May 29, 2026 · full quote
The onerous audit and reporting requirements for both AI developers and AI deployers are concerning for several reasons. The bill requires significant and costly third-party audits to be conducted by both developers and deployers. For any business to comply, they will be forced t…

Chelsea Lemon · Jan 15, 2026 · full quote
Repeated third-party audits, extensive reporting, and public disclosures may be manageable for large organizations, but for small and mid-sized employers — which make up most New York workplaces — these costs could be prohibitive.

Alexander Alonso · Jan 15, 2026 · full quote

Risky and subjective compliance

Some opponents warn that aggressive audit and data-sharing rules could expose trade secrets and private records, while leaving private auditors to make highly subjective safety judgments without clear national guardrails. They present the mandate as a compliance risk as much as a safety tool.

There are some changes we’d like to work with the sponsors on, including the bill’s aggressive auditing regime and data-sharing requirements for developers that could risk entrepreneurs’ trade secrets and private records.

Patrick Hedger · Jun 4, 2026 · full quote
We remain concerned that Illinois would effectively be requiring private actors to make highly subjective determinations requiring AI safety compliance without established national standards, certifications, or clear regulatory guardrails.

Ninia Linero · May 20, 2026 · full quote

Middle ground

Phase in external audits

Some quotes favor independent outside evaluation but suggest starting with voluntary or framework-building arrangements and moving to formal mandates only after the testing regime proves effective and robust. This approach uses independent or federally overseen bodies to set standards and verify audits before making them compulsory.

For the most advanced frontier AI models, an independent, federally overseen, industry-backed organization could set safety standards and verify independent, voluntary audits, similar to how other critical sectors are managed.

Kent Walker · Jun 25, 2026 · full quote
Frontier labs would initially share their models with the body voluntarily, up to 30 days before release, for safety testing that probes dangerous cyber, biological and deception capabilities.

Demis Hassabis · Jul 14, 2026 · full quote
Once the testing regime proves “effective and robust,” formalization “could quickly follow.” That means frontier models would be required to pass before they could be deployed in the U.S. market.

Demis Hassabis · Jul 14, 2026 · full quote
AI has tremendous potential to improve our lives, but without sufficient guardrails, it also poses significant risks. Under SB 813, California will become the first state to create voluntary standards for the responsible development of AI. I’m also proud to partner with Asm. Baue…

Jerry McNerney · Jun 17, 2026 · full quote

Insights

A recurring divide is timing: many supportive quotes call for building standards, certification, and evaluator capacity, while opponents argue those foundations are still too underdeveloped for a legal mandate.
Several supporters narrow the proposal to frontier, high-risk, or threshold-based systems, whereas opponents argue even targeted mandates can still raise costs for smaller businesses through deployer obligations or higher AI prices.
Across supportive quotes, audits are rarely presented alone; they are commonly paired with transparency reports, incident disclosure, post-deployment monitoring, and whistleblower protections.
Independence is treated as more than formal separation: supporters repeatedly mention qualified experts, no financial conflicts, and access to unredacted or white-box systems.
One opposing quote proposes voluntary audits verified by an independent, federally overseen body, indicating that at least part of the dispute is about compulsion and design, not only about outside review itself.

Supporters across government, civil society, and some AI firms describe third-party audits as foundational safeguards for major or frontier systems, especially where self-assessment is seen as inadequate. Opponents focus less on the value of scrutiny in principle than on implementation, arguing that mandates currently outrun available standards, auditor capacity, clear guardrails, and manageable compliance costs. Some quotes point toward a phased path in which voluntary or framework-based external testing matures before mandatory audits are imposed.

Cast your vote:

Results (193 votes):

Total (193 votes)

For 175 (91%) Abstain 0 (0%) Against 18 (9%)

For (171)

Fathom
Independent nonprofit developing AI-governance and independent-verification frameworks.

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votes For and says:

The bill gets the fundamentals correct. It sets one public standard – the adequate mitigation of catastrophic risk – and holds both the AI companies and their independent verifiers accountable to it.
AI Verified source (Jul 23, 2026)

added 9d ago

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Andrew Freedman
Co-Founder and CEO of Fathom, a nonprofit focused on independent AI verification and governance.

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votes For and says:

What will work is a competitive market of independent verifiers who are accountable for real-world outcomes and who the government can actually count on.
AI Verified source (Jul 23, 2026)

added 9d ago

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Scott Franklin
U.S. Representative from Florida; member of the House Appropriations Committee

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votes For and says:

By tying coverage to substantial AI research and development investments and requiring transparency and independent assessments from those developers, the bill avoids one-size-fits-all mandates and allows smaller innovators to spend their time buildi...
more AI Verified source (Jul 23, 2026) 1 of 2

added 9d ago

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Greg Casar
U.S. Representative from Texas; Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus

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votes For and says:

We need regular mandatory independent safety testing and oversight, mandatory disclosure of security incidents, and international cooperation to keep people safe from absolute disaster.
AI Verified source (Jul 23, 2026)

added 15d ago

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Jay Obernolte
U.S. Representative from California

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votes For and says:

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, and Congress must ensure our regulatory framework keeps pace without undermining American innovation. The FRONTIER Act focuses oversight on the largest developers and most advanced models, requiring trans...
more AI Verified source (Jul 23, 2026)

added 16d ago

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SaferAI
Nonprofit organization researching and promoting responsible frontier AI risk management and safety governance.

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votes For and says:

These frameworks are now increasingly being used as a basis for external accountability mechanisms and are turning into regulatory infrastructure.
AI Verified source (Jul 15, 2026)

added 22d ago

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Jack Clark
Anthropic co-founder and Head of Public Benefit

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votes For and says:

At this point, everyone at the frontier of AI agrees that third parties should test out AI systems and use these to develop standards to feed into policy.
AI Verified source (Jul 16, 2026) 1 of 3

added 24d ago

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Chris Lehane
OpenAI chief global affairs officer

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votes For and says:

Companies developing the most capable systems should meet clear requirements, including independent audits, incident reporting, strong security standards, and whistleblower protections.
AI Verified source (Jul 15, 2026)

added 26d ago

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Demis Hassabis
Nobel laureate, AI Researcher and CEO of DeepMind

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votes For and says:

Frontier labs would initially share their models with the body voluntarily, up to 30 days before release, for safety testing that probes dangerous cyber, biological and deception capabilities.
AI Verified source (Jul 14, 2026) 1 of 3

added 23d ago

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Iqbal Mohamed
UK Member of Parliament for Dewsbury and Batley; former pharmaceutical regulatory professional.

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votes For and says:

Secondly, the Government must mandate independent statutory testing for AI before its release, and a yellow card scheme that would be a national register where safety incidents, near misses and harms caused by AI were reported, tracked and acted on e...
more AI Verified source (Jul 8, 2026)

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Philippines National Police
National police service of the Philippines, represented at the 2026 UN Chiefs of Police Summit.

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votes For and says:

Deployment must be accompanied by published guidelines and independent audits.
AI Verified source (Jul 8, 2026)

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Brendan Steinhauser
CEO of The Alliance for Secure AI; longtime Republican political strategist and former Tea Party organizer

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votes For and says:

Governor Pritzker deserves credit for signing this important bill into law, which was passed with strong bipartisan support. Illinois is now the first state to require independent, third-party audits of the largest AI developers’ safety practices. Wi...
more AI Verified source (Jul 8, 2026)

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Willemien Arends
Minister for Digital Economy and Sovereignty of the Netherlands, speaking on AI governance at the UN Global Dialogue in 2026.

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votes For and says:

For example, if we make it more tangible and to have some, some oversight and some control of what's going to happen, we have in the Netherlands the Algorithm Framework that translates legal requirements into practical guidelines also for public orga...
more AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Mena El Asady
Computer science professor and member of the UN Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, presenting its Working Group 1 findings in July 2026.

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votes For and says:

Despite the rapid advancements, the gaps show that there is a lack of independent verification standards. Today, safety verification relies on proprietary visibility and developers' goodwill rather than rigorous third-party auditing.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

added 16d ago

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European Commission
EU's executive body

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votes For and says:

Under the AI Act, advanced AI models must be evaluated, and mitigation measures carefully assessed, before the models are placed on the EU market. This new capacity will contribute to the regulatory function of the AI Office by strengthening third-pa...
more AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026) 1 of 2

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Ravn Samboepele
Co-founder and CEO of Credo AI, an AI governance company.

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votes For and says:

Accountability must be engineered before deployment with the permission, oversight, audit trail need to be designed to build a time-based, not added after an incident.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Cooley LLP
International law firm publishing analysis of AI regulation and technology policy.

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votes For and says:

Illinois moves beyond transparency toward independent auditing. The statute reflects the view that AI governance programs should not only be self-reported, but also undergo external verification.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Peggy Hicks
Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; moderator at the 2026 UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance.

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votes For and says:

We need independent audit certifications and oversight built in.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Volker Türk
UN human rights chief

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votes For and says:

Before a new drug reaches the market, it undergoes years of clinical trials, regulatory review, and market authorization. And this process can last between 10 and 15 years. Many drugs fail due to lack of effectiveness or safety concerns. And even wit...
more AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Rebecca Finlay
CEO of Partnership on AI.

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votes For and says:

Trust must be built through verifiability that is fostered through independent third-party testing, disclosure across the AI value chain, including incident reporting.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Government of Brazil
National government of Brazil, speaking through its delegation at the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in July 2026.

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votes For and says:

Brazil supports governance frameworks that promote algorithmic transparency, accountability mechanisms, independent auditing, due diligence by governments and private companies, and effective safeguards against discrimination, manipulation, and widen...
more AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Government of Costa Rica
National government of Costa Rica, speaking at the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance.

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votes For and says:

Before 2027 dialogue, we should advance shared terminology, comparable risk classifications, consistent documentation, interoperable incident reporting, and multilingual evaluation methods, while building pathways towards mutual recognition of testin...
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Nighat Dad
Founder of the Digital Rights Foundation and digital-rights advocate.

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votes For and says:

Gender and child rights impact assessment must be mandatory, conducted before deployment with affected communities participating, not merely documented.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Melat Bilge Demirkoz
Member of the UN Independent International Scientific Panel on AI; physicist and researcher.

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votes For and says:

Because we lack a unified independent evidence that is outside of the companies that are developing these models, this undermines public trust and objective accountability of these companies.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Jalekam Kakkar
Executive Director of the Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University Delhi.

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votes For and says:

So every system, you know, predeployment through the design stage needs to be thought through. We need to have certification and post-deployment monitoring of harms and impacts.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Government of France
National government of France, represented at the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance.

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votes For and says:

UN organizations must play a frontline role in drawing up safety and security standards that are common to us, then disseminating them among states. We must also collectively tackle the issue of independent evaluation of AI models before their rollou...
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Xinchen Hua Lu
UN AI panel member and researcher at CSIRO Australia.

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votes For and says:

Independent third parties need to be part of the evaluation process to avoid bias. And if the risk is above the threshold set by the government, the system shouldn't be allowed to be deployed.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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UN Women
United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

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votes For and says:

AI should not be deployed without mandatory safeguards to ensure it is safe, accountable, and does not cause harm for anyone, of course including women and girls.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Government of Latvia
National government of Latvia, speaking through its delegation at the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in July 2026.

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votes For and says:

Trust must be demonstrated through practical verifiability, transparent governance, data policies, and independent testing of high-risk applications throughout their lifecycle.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

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Abstain (0)

Against (18)

Paul Lekas
SIIA public policy executive

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votes Against and says:

You’ll see industry oppose outside auditors and the main reason is they would mandate something that can’t be done [today] in a robust and uniform manner.
AI Verified source (Jul 8, 2026)

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