Abstract
This disclosure describes a start-up function, built into an AI system's attested hardware, that must succeed before the system can do anything. Every time the system starts, whether at power-on, after a reset, after an update, after a change of owner or at set intervals, the Initiator performs a sequence of checks, including SI KYC™, which in the SI world means Know Your Compute and Know Your Client. It measures the system's own software and confirms that it is a certified bundle; it confirms the system's passport status; it verifies the client, the compute from which requests reach the system, such as a person's device or a calling agent, by a fresh hardware attestation; it verifies the identity of the operator responsible for running the system and of the principal on whose behalf it will act, through identity records issued by accredited verifiers and bound to their credentials, together with the mandate given; and it verifies the compute, confirming that the hardware is genuine and that its device class, location and connected parts match the bundle's declarations. Only then does it release the keys that decrypt the model's weights, which are sealed to the attested hardware, and unlock capabilities in tiers proportionate to what has been verified: a system whose operator is unverified runs, if at all, in a minimal tier with no autonomous action. Because the weights can be decrypted only by an Initiator that has completed these checks, weights copied to other hardware, such as a cluster of compromised consumer devices, cannot start. Each start-up produces a signed start record. If a check fails, the system stays in a safe minimal state and reports the failure. A system restored after a reset can return to service only through the Initiator. Start-up proceeds in three phases: an offline check of the device, an attestation sent from a suspended state, and a short-lived activation token, signed jointly by independent registry nodes and renewed while the system runs.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Wang, Edward D. H., "SI Initiator™: A Boot-Start Function Built into AI Systems that Verifies the System's Own Integrity and the Identity of Its Operator and Principal before Unlocking Capabilities, with Weights Sealed to Attested Hardware so that Copies Cannot Start Elsewhere", Technical Disclosure Commons, (November 02, 2026)
https://www.tdcommons.org/dpubs_series/12613