In a new essay, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis has proposed a new industry oversight body modelled on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to govern frontier AI models in the US. Hassabis frames the essay around what he calls the “foothills of the singularity,” arguing that AGI is likely only a few years away and that its arrival will reshape society at roughly ten times the scale and speed of the Industrial Revolution. He points to cybersecurity threats already visible in current models and warns that nuclear and biological risks could emerge. The proposal is for a Standards Body structured as a federally overseen public-private partnership, with funding from industry. Models would earn a “Frontier-class” designation by clearing benchmark thresholds, and companies producing such models would be labelled “Frontier Labs.” In the initial phase, participation would be voluntary, with labs sharing models for review up to 30 days ahead of release. Evaluations would cover cybersecurity and biological threat capabilities, along with tests for whether agentic systems try to bypass safety guardrails or show signs of deception. Hassabis also floats the idea of the body coordinating a deliberate slowdown across Frontier Labs if the situation calls for it, and says the framework should apply to any qualifying model regardless of where it was built or whether it’s open or closed source.