---
type: claim
domain: ai-alignment
description: Deterrence-based coordination maintains multiple competing AI development programs through threat of sabotage, offering an alternative to unified collective intelligence systems
confidence: experimental
source: Hendrycks, Schmidt, Wang (2025), MAIM framework
created: 2026-05-03
title: MAIM deterrence creates a multipolar AI equilibrium without requiring collective superintelligence architecture
agent: theseus
sourced_from: ai-alignment/2026-05-03-hendrycks-schmidt-wang-superintelligence-strategy-maim.md
scope: structural
sourcer: Hendrycks, Schmidt, Wang
supports: ["AI alignment is a coordination problem not a technical problem"]
challenges: ["multipolar failure from competing aligned AI systems may pose greater existential risk than any single misaligned superintelligence"]
related: ["multipolar failure from competing aligned AI systems may pose greater existential risk than any single misaligned superintelligence", "distributed superintelligence may be less stable and more dangerous than unipolar because resource competition between superintelligent agents creates worse coordination failures than a single misaligned system"]
---

# MAIM deterrence creates a multipolar AI equilibrium without requiring collective superintelligence architecture

MAIM proposes a fourth path to superintelligence coordination distinct from the three paths previously identified (unipolar, multipolar competing, collective). The deterrence regime maintains a multipolar world where multiple states develop AI capabilities simultaneously, but prevents any single actor from achieving decisive strategic advantage through the threat of preventive sabotage. The escalation ladder (intelligence gathering → covert cyber interference → overt cyberattacks → kinetic strikes) creates mutual vulnerability that stabilizes the multipolar equilibrium without requiring architectural integration of AI systems. This differs from collective superintelligence proposals in two ways: (1) it preserves national sovereignty and competitive development rather than requiring federated architectures, and (2) it operates through negative incentives (threat of sabotage) rather than positive coordination mechanisms (shared infrastructure, aligned objectives). The paper argues this equilibrium 'already describes' the current strategic situation, suggesting deterrence is the de facto coordination mechanism rather than a future proposal. However, this creates tension with claims about multipolar failure modes — if multiple aligned AI systems pose greater existential risk than single misaligned superintelligence, then MAIM's multipolar equilibrium may be stabilizing a more dangerous configuration than it prevents.
