The Pearson AIS Protocol v2.0: Runtime Authority Governance for Fail-Closed Autonomous Systems

The Pearson Alignment Integrity Systems (AIS) Protocol v2.0 is a runtime governance architecture for fail-closed autonomous and agentic systems. AIS models autonomous authority as conditional, revocable, time bounded, and externally governed rather than as an inherent property of the actor. The architecture introduces deterministic Invariant Governance Objects (IGOs), an isolated Minimum Viable Secondary Observer (MVSO), concurrent proportional friction and hard veto mechanisms, Logical Zero containment, fault specific restoration eligibility, post-containment revalidation, Authority Epochs, Execution Lease Objects (ELOs), delegated authority, revocation cascades, and root trust boundaries. A reference state transition model was used to search for prohibited authority states. No counterexamples to the encoded safety properties were found in the exhaustively explored finite abstraction or within the bounded concrete epoch-counter search, while an intentionally injected containment bypass transition was successfully detected. Preprint status: This record is an early architecture and verification paper intended to precede a larger AIS publication, dedicated formal model implementation, and experimental validation work. It should be read as a research preprint rather than a completed implementation or universal proof of autonomous system security.