GRAVITY AS PROCESSING LATENCY Deriving the Equivalence Principle and Spacetime Curvature from Local Information Density

We present a covariant, phenomenological theory in which gravity — observed as proper-time slowing and acceleration — emerges from finite local information-processing capacity. A dimensionless information-load scalar quantifies the ratio of relevant local bits to causal-patch capacity. We introduce a conformal metric ansatz and show how (i) Landauer’s principle together with holographic scaling reproduce the Newtonian potential in the weak field; (ii) a covariant scalar-field action for coupled to a matter-information scalar yields field equations equivalent to a Poisson kernel in the static limit; (iii) the linearized metric recovers Parametrized Post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters at displayed order; and (iv) black holes are interpretable as saturation regions — a “Null Pointer Singularity” (NPS). We define an informational energy density via a generalized Yücel–Landauer relation, discuss cosmological embedding (an effective informational dark sector), and provide observational and numerical tests. The framework is explicit about phenomenological choices and delineates a clear program to derive microphysics and confront data.