Editing Openai/6944461c-7f90-8000-8c32-54fe2958dd9a (section)

==== The competition’s legitimacy rests on three non-negotiables: ====

===== Pressure attribution rules prevent: =====
* Efficiency theater
* Energy laundering
* Rebranded electrolysis

Sponsors are insulated from hype by design.

===== Long-duration, unattended operation requirements ensure that: =====
* Short-term performance spikes do not qualify
* Maintenance reality is confronted early
* Lifecycle costs cannot be hand-waved away

This avoids the most common sponsor regret:
“It worked—until it didn’t.”

===== Safeguards are framed not as ethics theater, but as: =====
* Legal risk mitigation
* Community acceptance insurance
* Long-term deployability protection

This allows sponsors to support the prize without inheriting downstream liabilities.