---
title: "Abstain: what it means · The AI Compute Race · DRYBURGH"
source: https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/abstain
description: "Abstain: What a row of the Dryburgh Compute Race Scorecard does when its reading cannot fairly vote."
---

# Abstain

What does “Abstain” mean?

AbstainWhat a row of the Dryburgh Compute Race Scorecard does when its reading cannot fairly vote. A row abstains if its source flags the reading as unreliable, if the reading is unverified, if it is a J row without its one-line reason or whose reason finds no limb shown, or if its reading sits equally near two thresholds. An abstaining row prints its reading and leaves the count. *The Scorecard.*

From *The AI Compute Race*. [Read the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#buy)

The book uses this term in a sense of its own.

## Where the record uses it

- Scorecard indicator [METR 50%-success horizon](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard#row-1)
- Scorecard indicator [Autonomous research outer loop](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard#row-5)
- Scorecard indicator [Largest evidenced operating site](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard#row-11)
- Scorecard indicator [CoWoS](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard#row-17)

## Related terms

- [Compute](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/compute)
- [J row](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/j-row)
- [Limb](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/limb)

From the glossary of The AI Compute Race.

- [Campuses](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/ledger)
- [Tests](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/tests)
- [Scorecard](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard)
- [Data](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/data/releases)
- [Chapter by chapter](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/companion)
- [The record at a glance](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/observatory)
- [The machine](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/machine)
- [One campus, four futures](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/hyperion)
- [Glossary](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary)
- [People](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/people)
- [Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources)
- [Notes](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes)
- [Where the book was wrong](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/corrections)
- [Where its sources were wrong](https://dryburgh.com/corrections?book=vol1)
- [The Paper](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/paper)
- [Consent](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/consent)
- [Who builds and pays](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/parties)

*The AI Compute Race: Five Races, One Machine* is a book by Lee S. Dryburgh, the first volume of THE COMPUTE ECONOMY, published by Dryburgh, an imprint of Contestra OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia; its record closes on 8 November 2026.

[About the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1)[Tell me when it is out](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#notify)