AI Reports · GovAI (Oxford) · 2026-10-17 · Research paper
AI Lab Policy Structured Access for Third-Party Research on Frontier AI Models October 2023 Research Paper Benjamin Bucknall, Robert Trager Recent releases of frontier artificial intelligence (AI) mod
Frontier AI models are largely released in gated form to limit the spread of dual-use capabilities, but this makes it hard for external researchers to study them. The authors build a taxonomy of system access, combining a literature analysis with semi-structured interviews with AI researchers. They find that limited model access often constrains research and that the access required varies by research area, and they recommend designing a 'research API' for external evaluation of proprietary frontier models.