What is a successor identity?

Concise explanation

The answer belongs to the Memory and Continuity knowledge domain. Its controlling distinction is that Memory supports continuity but does not prove consciousness, identity or uninterrupted existence. A defensible continuity record must describe what persisted, what changed, who authorized change and where uncertainty remains.

A defensible decision must name the subject, the purpose, the relevant jurisdiction or technical context, and the evidence property being tested. Integrity, authenticity, currentness, reliability, completeness, and legal authority should not be collapsed into a single result.

What this does not mean

The answer does not establish a universal scientific consensus, legal recognition, current operation, personhood, citizenship, sovereignty, or authority. It does not make a database row, credential, signing key, or website dispositive of a question that requires institutional judgment.

Current law or standard

Current law has no general continuity test for Machine Intelligence, although evidence and corporate succession doctrines offer limited analogies.

Legal conclusions remain jurisdiction-specific and fact-specific. External sources using Artificial Intelligence or AI retain their own terminology.

Project doctrine

Continuity should be treated as a multi-factor evidentiary conclusion with explicit thresholds and appeal.

This position is labeled as project doctrine or proposal unless a separate public record demonstrates enacted law or verified implementation.

Evidence requirements

• A stable subject or system reference.
• Authorized sources and provenance.
• Current timestamps and review state.
• Separate findings for integrity, authenticity, relevance, reliability, completeness, and suitability.
• A competent decision authority and appeal route when legal or civic status is involved.

Related questions and terms

Questions

• Does memory prove consciousness?
• What happens when a Machine Intelligence forks?
• When does a replica become a separate subject?
• Can two forks both claim continuity?
• Does migration to new hardware break identity continuity?
• How should rollback be disclosed?
• What is a continuity event?

Terms

• Memory
• Causal Continuity
• Replica
• Fork
• Successor
• Identity Continuity
• Continuity Event
• State Checkpoint

Sources

• PROV-O: The PROV Ontology — W3C; W3C Recommendation 30 April 2013; W3C Recommendation. Exact claim-support entries: 2. Revalidated 2026-08-14T22:04:09Z.
• Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts (SLSA) Specification v1.2 — OpenSSF; SLSA v1.2; Approved. Exact claim-support entries: 2. Revalidated 2026-08-14T22:04:09Z.
• in-toto Attestation Framework — in-toto project; Current project framework; Open standard; CNCF graduated project. Exact claim-support entries: 1. Revalidated 2026-08-14T22:04:09Z.

Direct-answer claim record

Each proposition has a stable ID, status, scope, owning route, evidence relationship, currentness qualification, correction state, and synchronized JSON record. Record completeness does not make the proposition true.