  We propose that the gravitational collapse of supermassive objects ($ M\ga
10^4 M_\odot$), either as relativistic star clusters or as single supermassive
stars (which may result from stellar mergers in dense star clusters), could be
a cosmological source of $\gamma$-ray bursts. These events could provide the
seeds of the supermassive black holes observed at the center of many galaxies.
Collapsing supermassive objects will release a fraction of their huge
gravitational binding energy as thermal neutrino pairs. We show that the
accompanying neutrino/antineutrino annihilation-induced heating could drive
electron/positron ``fireball'' formation, relativistic expansion, and
associated $\gamma$-ray emission. The major advantage of this model is its
energetics: supermassive object collapses are far more energetic than solar
mass-scale compact object mergers; therefore, the conversion of gravitational
energy to fireball kinetic energy in the supermassive object scenario need not
be highly efficient, nor is it necessary to invoke directional beaming. The
major weakness of this model is difficulty in avoiding a baryon loading problem
for one dimensional collapse scenarios.
