(a) Definitions

Section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401; as enacted as part of division E of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021; Public Law 116–283) is amended—

(b) Establishment

Title LIII of division E of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283; 134 Stat. 4523) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

5304. Center for AI Standards and Innovation

(a) Establishment

(1) In general

Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (in this section referred to as the Director) shall establish a center on artificial intelligence, to be known as the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (in this section referred to as the Center), to ensure continued United States leadership in research, development, and evaluation of the reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety of artificial intelligence systems.

(2) Purposes

The purposes of the Center are as follows:

(A)

To advance the measurement science for artificial intelligence reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety.

(B)

To support the National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratories as such laboratories carry out artificial intelligence activities related to robustness, resilience, and safety in accordance with section 22A of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h–1).

(C)

To collaborate with the private sector, standards development organizations, civil society, and Federal agencies in supporting the development of voluntary best practices and technical standards for evaluating the reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety-related challenges and remediations of artificial intelligence systems.

(D)

To increase the understanding of State, local, and Tribal governments, institutions of higher education, private sector entities, and the public of the reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety-related challenges and remediations of artificial intelligence.

(3) Director

The Director or appropriate designee shall serve as the Director of the Center.

(4) Consultation and coordination

In establishing the Center, the Director shall—

(A)

coordinate with—

(i)

the Director of the National Science Foundation;

(ii)

the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;

(iii)

the Secretary of Energy;

(iv)

the Secretary of Defense; and

(v)

the Secretary of Homeland Security; and

(B)

consult with the heads of such other Federal agencies as the Director considers appropriate.

(5) Activities

The activities of the Center may include the following:

(A)

Conducting evaluations and benchmarking of the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence over time.

(B)

Conducting measurement research to inform the development of recommended best practices, benchmarks, methodologies, procedures, voluntary consensus-based technical standards, and other resources for the evaluation and assurance of reliable, robust, resilient, secure, and safe artificial intelligence systems and reduce the risk of the misuse of such systems, including relating to the following:

(i)

Common definitions and characterizations for aspects of artificial intelligence reliability, robustness, resiliency, security, and safety, and the measurement of such that are applicable across many sectors and use cases.

(ii)

The reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety of artificial intelligence systems and use cases, including the ability for such systems to withstand unexpected inputs and adversarial attacks.

(iii)

Testing, evaluation, validation, and verification methods for risk management, including measurement of and assurance for accuracy, transparency, reliability, security, verifiability, and safety throughout the lifecycle of artificial intelligence systems, including through artificial intelligence red teaming.

(iv)

Reference use cases for artificial intelligence systems and criteria for assessing safety risk in each such use case.

(C)

Providing to relevant Federal agencies and National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratories, as appropriate, input and support for artificial intelligence risk management regarding reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety-related topics.

(D)

Engaging with, or supporting the engagement of the United States Government with, international standards organizations, multilateral organizations, and organizations and topically relevant bodies among allies and partners to support international collaboration with respect to activities described in this paragraph.

(E)

As appropriate, and in coordination with ongoing National Institute of Standards and Technology activities, coordinating Federal research, development, demonstration, and standards engagement related to artificial intelligence reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety.

(6) Requirements

In carrying out the activities described in paragraph (5), the Director shall carry out the following:

(A)

Support research that assesses and mitigates reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety risks of artificial intelligence systems across several timescales, including demonstrable safety risks that arise from the use and misuse of such systems.

(B)

Assess scenarios in which such systems could be deployed to create risks for economic or national security.

(C)

Leverage computing resources, access to open datasets, open source software, and other resources from industry, the government, nonprofit organizations (as such term is defined in section 201 of title 35, United States Code), Federal laboratories, and institutions of higher education to advance the mission of the Center, as appropriate.

(D)

Leverage existing Federal investments to advance the mission of the Center.

(E)

Avoid unnecessary duplication with National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratory activities authorized under section 22A of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h–1).

(7) Report

For each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2027, not later than 90 days after the President submits a budget for such fiscal year pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that includes the following:

(A)

A summarized budget in support of the Center for such fiscal year.

(B)

A description of the goals, priorities, and metrics for guiding and evaluating the activities of the Center.

(b) Establishment of consortium

(1) In general

The Director shall establish a consortium (in this section referred to as the Consortium) of stakeholders from academic or research communities, Federal laboratories, private industry, and civil society in matters relating to artificial intelligence reliability, robustness, resilience, security, and safety to support the following:

(A)

The Center, in carrying out the activities specified in subsection (a)(5).

(B)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology in carrying out section 22A of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h–1).

(2) Goals

In addition to supporting the Center in carrying out activities under subsection (a)(5), the goals of the Consortium are the following:

(A)

To evaluate the needs of stakeholders, including industry and civil society.

(B)

Identify where gaps remain in the activities of the Center, including relating to measurement research and support for standards development, and provide recommendations to the Center on how to address such gaps.

(3) Report

Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report summarizing the contributions of the members of the Consortium in support the efforts of the Center.

(c) Scientific integrity

The Director shall ensure the Center, Consortium, and staff adhere to policies and procedures established pursuant to section 1009 of the America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 6620), including by providing mechanisms for an employee or associate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a member of the Consortium, a private sector entity, researcher, or student affiliated with the Center or Consortium, an employee of an agency working with the Center, or a member of the public to report violations of such policies by confidential and anonymous means.

(d) Security

This section shall be carried out in accordance with the provision of subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.; enacted as part of division B of Public Law 117–167) and section 223 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (42 U.S.C. 6605).

(e) Limitation

Information shared by an entity with, or provided to, the Director for the purpose of the activities described in this section may not be used by any Federal, State, local, or Tribal department or agency to regulate the activity of such entity.

(f) Prohibitions

Nothing in this section may be construed to—

(1)

provide the Director any enforcement authority that was not in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this section;

(2)

confer any regulatory authority to any Federal, State, Tribal, or local department or agency;

(3)

require any private sector entity to share data, including proprietary information, with the Director, the Center, or the Consortium; or

(4)

modify any regulatory requirement to report or submit information to a Federal, State, Tribal or local department or agency.

(g) Sunset

This section shall terminate on the date that is six years after the date of the enactment of this section.

(h) Authorization of appropriations

There is to be authorized to be appropriated to the Director $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 to carry out this section.

(c) Hiring critical technical experts update

Subsection (c) of section 6 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 275) is amended by striking section (b) shall expire on the date that is 5 years and inserting subsection (b) shall expire on the date that is 7 years.

(d) Clerical amendments

The tables of contents in section 2(b) and title LIII of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 are amended by inserting after the items relating to section 5303 the following new items:

(1) Covered artificial intelligence and other critical and emerging technologies

The term covered artificial intelligence and other critical and emerging technologies means a subset of artificial intelligence and other critical and emerging technologies included in the list of such technologies identified and maintained by the National Science and Technology Council of the Office of Science and Technology Policy as the Director considers appropriate for purposes of this subtitle.

(2) Director

The term Director means the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

(a) Briefing required

(b) Web portal

(a) Pilot program required

(b) Eligible entities

For purposes of the pilot program required by subsection (a), an eligible entity is—

(c) Grants

(d) Guidance

(e) Briefings for Congress

(f) Recommendations for permanent implementation

If, before the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director determines that providing support as described in subsection (a) is feasible and advisable, the Director shall, not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act—

(g) Termination

The pilot program required by subsection (a)(1) shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(h) Authorization of appropriations

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

(1)

by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and

(2)

by inserting after subsection (g) the following new subsection:

(h) Assessment of the practices of artificial intelligence development

(1) In general

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (in this subsection referred to as the Director) shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, develop, and periodically update, in collaboration with other public and private sector organizations, voluntary guidance for practices and guidelines relating to the development, release, and assessment of artificial intelligence systems. Such guidelines shall satisfy the following:

(A)

Define methods and guidelines for developing reasonable risk tolerances for various use cases of artificial intelligence systems based on the following:

(i)

The risks associated with the intended and unintended applications, use cases, and outcomes of the artificial intelligence system at issue, based on the guidelines specified in the voluntary risk management framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, or successor framework, authorized under subsection (c), which may include different categories of risk, such as the following:

(I)

Security risks, including threats to national security.

(II)

Economic risks, including threats to economic opportunities.

(III)

Social risks, including infringement upon constitutional rights, privileges, or liberties.

(ii)

Such other factors as the Director determines appropriate and consistent with this subsection.

(B)

Categorize and list practices and norms for communicating relevant characteristics, including robustness, resilience, security, safety, fairness, privacy, validation, reliability, accountability, and usability, of artificial intelligence systems, and including any characteristics identified by the voluntary risk management framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, or successor framework, authorized under subsection (c). Such practices and norms may relate to the following:

(i)

Documentation of training and evaluation datasets, such as information and statistics about a dataset’s size, curation, annotation, and sources, and the protocols for a dataset’s selection, creators, provenance, processing, augmentation, filters, inclusion of personally identifiable information, and intellectual property usage.

(ii)

Documentation of model information, such as a model’s development stages, training objectives, training strategies, inference objectives, capabilities, reproducibility of capabilities, input and output modalities, components, size, and architecture.

(iii)

Evaluation of benchmarks for multi-metric assessments, such as an assessment of an appropriate combination of robustness, resilience, security, safety, fairness, privacy, accuracy, validity, reliability, accountability, usability, transparency, efficiency, and calibration, and any characteristics identified by the voluntary risk management framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, or successor framework, authorized under subsection (c).

(iv)

Metrics and methodologies for evaluations of artificial intelligence systems, such as establishing evaluation datasets.

(v)

Public reporting of artificial intelligence systems’ capabilities, limitations, and possible areas of appropriate and inappropriate use.

(vi)

Disclosure of security practices, such as artificial intelligence red teaming and third-party assessments, that were used in the development of an artificial intelligence system.

(vii)

How to release to the public components of an artificial intelligence system or information about an artificial intelligence system, including aspects of the model, associated training data, and license agreements.

(viii)

Approaches and channels for collaboration and knowledge-sharing of best practices across industry, governments, civil society, and academia.

(ix)

Such other categories as the Director determines appropriate and consistent with this subsection.

(C)

For each practice and norm categorized and listed in accordance with subparagraph (B), provide recommendations and practices for utilizing such practice or norm.

(2) Implementation

In conducting the Director’s duties under paragraph (1), the Director shall carry out the following:

(A)

Update the voluntary risk management framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, or successor framework, authorized under subsection (c) as the Director determines appropriate.

(B)

Ensure that voluntary guidance developed in paragraph (1) is based on international standards and industry best practices to the extent possible and practical.

(C)

Not prescribe or otherwise require the use of specific information or communications technology products or services.

(D)

Collaborate with public, industry, and academic entities as the Director determines appropriate, including conducting periodic outreach to receive public input from public, industry, and academic stakeholders.

(3) Report

In conducting the Director’s duties under paragraph (1), the Director shall, not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this subsection, brief the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the following:

(A)

New or updated materials, programs, or systems that were produced as a result of carrying out this subsection.

(B)

Policy recommendations of the Director that could facilitate and improve communication and coordination between the private sector and relevant Federal agencies regarding implementing the recommended practices identified in this subsection.

(4) Artificial intelligence red teaming defined

In this subsection, the term artificial intelligence red teaming means a structured testing of adversarial efforts to find flaws and vulnerabilities in an artificial intelligence system and identify risks, flaws, and vulnerabilities of artificial intelligence systems, such as harmful outputs from such system, unforeseen or undesirable system behaviors, limitations, and potential risks associated with the misuse of such system.

(a) NAIRR steering subcommittee

Section 5103 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9413) is amended—

(b) In general

The National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

LVI National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource

5601. Definitions

In this title:

(1) Advisory Committee

The term Advisory Committee means any Advisory Committee established under section 5602(c).

(2) AI testbed

The term AI testbed means a testbed described in section 22A(g) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h–1(g)).

(3) Executive agency

The term Executive agency has the meaning given such term in section 105 of title 5, United States Code.

(4) National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource; NAIRR

The terms National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource and NAIRR have the meaning given the term National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource in section 5106(g).

(5) Operating Entity

The term Operating Entity means the Operating Entity selected by the Program Management Office as described in section 5602(b)(3)(A).

(6) Program Management Office

The term Program Management Office means the Program Management Office established under section 5602(b).

(7) Resource of the NAIRR

The term resource of the NAIRR means a resource described in section 5603(b).

(8) NAIRR Steering Subcommittee

The term NAIRR Steering Subcommittee means the NAIRR Steering Subcommittee established under section 5103(e).

(9) STEM

The term STEM means science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including computer science.

5602. Establishment; governance

(a) Establishment

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Director of the National Science Foundation, in coordination with the NAIRR Steering Subcommittee, shall establish the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource to—

(1)

spur innovation and advance the development of artificial intelligence to stimulate cutting-edge research and propel the strategic development of artificial intelligence capabilities;

(2)

improve access to artificial intelligence resources for researchers and students of artificial intelligence;

(3)

improve capacity for artificial intelligence research in the United States; and

(4)

support the testing, benchmarking, and evaluation of artificial intelligence systems developed and deployed in the United States.

(b) Program Management Office

(1) Establishment

The Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish within the National Science Foundation a Program Management Office to oversee the day-to-day functions of the NAIRR and shall appoint an individual to head the Program Management Office.

(2) Staff

(A) In general

The head of the Program Management Office may identify staff and direct all employees of the Program Management Office, in accordance with the applicable provisions of title 5, United States Code.

(B) Representation and requirements

The staff of the Program Management Office—

(i)

may include representation from other Federal agencies providing support for NAIRR resources; and

(ii)

shall include not fewer than three full-time employees.

(3) Duties

The duties of the Program Management Office shall include—

(A)

in coordination with the NAIRR Steering Subcommittee and any relevant Advisory Committee as appropriate—

(i)

developing the funding opportunity and soliciting bids for the Operating Entity, which will be responsible for operation of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource;

(ii)

selecting, through a competitive and transparent process, a nongovernmental organization, which may be an independent legal entity or a consortium of 1 or more partners (which may include federally funded research and development centers), to be designated the Operating Entity;

(iii)

overseeing compliance with the contractual obligations of the Operating Entity;

(iv)

establishing evaluation criteria for the NAIRR;

(v)

overseeing asset allocation and utilization;

(vi)

identifying an external independent evaluation entity;

(vii)

assessing the performance of the Operating Entity on not less than an annual basis and, if such performance is unsatisfactory, ending the agreement with such Operating Entity and selecting a new Operating Entity in accordance with clause (ii);

(viii)

developing multi-agency funding opportunities for the selection of NAIRR resources; and

(ix)

coordinating resource contributions from participating Federal agencies; and

(B)

delegating, with appropriate oversight, operational tasks to the Operating Entity, including—

(i)

coordinating the provisioning of resources of the NAIRR;

(ii)

maintaining a portal and associated services for users to access resources of the NAIRR;

(iii)

developing policies and procedures for the NAIRR;

(iv)

hiring and managing a staff (including experts in cyber infrastructure management, data science, research design, privacy, ethics, and legal and policy matters) to support the operations of the NAIRR;

(v)

continually modernizing NAIRR infrastructure;

(vi)

recommending key performance indicators for the NAIRR, in coordination with the NAIRR Steering Subcommittee and any relevant Advisory Committee;

(vii)

publishing publicly available annual reports reviewing the performance of the NAIRR, the resources of the NAIRR, and the NAIRR governance structures;

(viii)

establishing and administering training to new users on accessing a resource of the NAIRR, research design, and issues related to privacy, ethics, safety, and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence systems;

(ix)

facilitating connections to AI testbeds; and

(x)

making educational resources of the NAIRR available to other Federal agencies, and to Congress, for the purpose of educating Federal Government officials and employees about artificial intelligence.

(c) Advisory Committees

The head of the Program Management Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity, shall establish Advisory Committees to provide advice to the Operating Entity and the Program Management Office. Any such Advisory Committees shall be comprised of members from government agencies, the private sector, academia, and public interest groups. Chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to any such Advisory Committee.

5603. Resources of the NAIRR

(a) In general

The head of the Program Management Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity and in coordination with the NAIRR Steering Subcommittee and any relevant Advisory Committee, shall—

(1)

coordinate and provision resources of the NAIRR;

(2)

establish processes to manage the procurement of new resources of the NAIRR, and intake of in-kind contribution of resources of the NAIRR, from Federal agencies or other entities;

(3)

establish policies on and review resources of the NAIRR for concerns related to ethics and privacy;

(4)

retire resources of the NAIRR no longer available or needed; and

(5)

publicly report a summary of categories of available resources of the NAIRR, categories of sources of such resources of the NAIRR, and issues related to resources of the NAIRR.

(b) Resources of the NAIRR

The NAIRR shall offer resources that include, at a minimum, all of the following, subject to the availability of appropriations:

(1)

A mix of computational resources, including—

(A)

on-premises, cloud-based, hybrid, and emergent resources;

(B)

public cloud providers providing access to popular computational and storage services for NAIRR users;

(C)

an open source software environment for the NAIRR;

(D)

an application programming interface providing structured access to artificial intelligence models; and

(E)

other types of computational resources.

(2)

Data, including by—

(A)

(i)

in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and consistent with the guidance of the National Science and Technology Council titled Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories for Federally Funded Data, dated May 2022, or any successor document, publishing interoperability standards for data repositories based on the data sharing and documentation standards and guidelines produced under section 22A of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h–1); and

(ii)

selecting and developing, through a competitive bidding process, data repositories to be available to NAIRR users;

(B)

establishing acceptable criteria for datasets used as resources of the NAIRR;

(C)

identifying and providing access to existing curated datasets of value and interest to the NAIRR user community;

(D)

establishing an artificial intelligence open data commons to facilitate community sharing and curation of data, code, and models;

(E)

coordinating with the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy to explore options to make Federal statistical data available to NAIRR users, including through the standard application process established under section 3583(a) of title 44, United States Code; and

(F)

other types of computational resources.

(3)

Educational tools and services, including by—

(A)

facilitating and curating educational and training materials;

(B)

providing technical training and user support; and

(C)

providing targeted outreach and programming strategies to increase participation in STEM fields.

(4)

AI testbeds, including by—

(A)

in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, facilitating access to artificial intelligence testbeds through which researchers can measure, benchmark, test, or evaluate engineering or algorithmic developments; and

(B)

developing a comprehensive catalog of open AI testbeds.

5604. NAIRR processes and procedures

(a) User eligibility

(1) Eligible users

Subject to paragraph (3), the following users shall be eligible for access to the NAIRR:

(A)

A researcher, educator, or student based in the United States that is affiliated with an entity described in paragraph (2).

(B)

An employee of an entity described in clause (iii) or (iv) of paragraph (2)(B) with a demonstrable mission-need.

(2) Entities described

An entity described in this paragraph is an entity that satisfies the following:

(A)

Is based in the United States.

(B)

Is one of the following:

(i)

An institution of higher education.

(ii)

A nonprofit institution (as such term is defined in section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703)).

(iii)

An Executive agency.

(iv)

A federally funded research and development center.

(v)

A small business concern (as such term is defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632), notwithstanding section 121.103 of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations) that has received funding from an Executive agency, including through the Small Business Innovation Research Program or the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (as described in section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638)).

(vi)

A category of entity that the Director of the National Science Foundation and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, after consultation with the NAIRR Steering Subcommittee and any relevant Advisory Committee, determine shall be eligible.

(vii)

A consortium composed of entities described in clauses (i) through (vi).

(3) Excluded entities

(A) In general

No individual is authorized to be an eligible user under paragraph (1) if the individual is employed by a foreign country that is listed in section 4872(f)(2) of title 10, United States Code, or is otherwise authorized by such country to act for or on its behalf.

(B) Enforcement

The Director of the National Science Foundation shall ensure that individuals authorized as eligible users meet the requirements of subparagraph (A).

(b) Privacy, ethics, civil rights and civil liberties, safety, and trustworthiness

(1) In general

(A) Requirements

The head of the Program Management Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity and in consultation with any relevant Advisory Committee, shall establish requirements, a review process for applications, and a process for auditing resources of the NAIRR and research conducted using resources of the NAIRR on matters related to privacy, ethics, safety, security, and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence systems developed using resources of the NAIRR.

(B) Federal statistical data

Any auditing process required under subparagraph (A) for Federal statistical data included in a resource of the NAIRR shall be completed by the head of a designated statistical agency (as defined in section 3576(e) of title 44, United States Code), in coordination with the Chief Statistician of the United States, consistent with relevant law.

(2) Consistency

The head of the Program Management Office shall ensure the requirements and processes described in paragraph (1) are consistent with the policies of the Office of Management and Budget policy and relevant policies of other Executive agencies. The head of the Program Management Office shall coordinate with the Senior Agency Official for Privacy and the General Counsel of the National Science Foundation in ensuring compliance with applicable privacy law and policy and Federal laws and regulations.

(3) Availability

The head of the Program Management Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity, shall—

(A)

when determining access to computational resources of the NAIRR, take into consideration the extent to which the access relates to privacy, ethics, safety, security, risk mitigation, and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence systems, or other topics that demonstrate that a project is in the public interest;

(B)

ensure that a significant percentage of the annual allotment of computational resources of the NAIRR is provided to projects the primary focus of which is related to any of the topics described in subparagraph (A); and

(C)

to the extent that demand for access to computational resources of the NAIRR exceeds availability, consider, on a priority basis, projects focusing on any of the topics described in subparagraph (A) when ranking applications for such access.

(c) Scientific integrity

(1) In general

The head of the Program Management Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity and in consultation with any relevant Advisory Committee, shall develop guidance for—

(A)

addressing concerns related to matters of scientific integrity, including matters related to the effects or impacts of research and potential research enabled by the NAIRR; and

(B)

mechanisms for an employee of the Operating Entity, an employee of the Program Management Office, a member of the NAIRR Steering Subcommittee or an Advisory Committee, a researcher or student affiliated with a NAIRR user described in subsection (a)(1), an employee of a provider of a resource of the NAIRR, an employee of a NAIRR funding agency, or a member of the public to report violations of the guidance developed under this paragraph, including by confidential and anonymous means.

(2) Consistency with government policies on scientific integrity

The guidance developed under paragraph (1)(A) shall be published in a publicly accessible location on the website of the NAIRR. Such policies shall, to the degree practicable, be consistent with—

(A)

the Presidential memorandum entitled Restoring Trust in Government Through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking, dated January 27, 2021, or successor document; and

(B)

reports produced pursuant to such Presidential memorandum (including the reports entitled Protecting the Integrity of Government Science, dated January 2022, and A Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity Policy and Practice, dated January 2023, published by the National Science and Technology Council, or successor documents).

(d) System security and user access controls

The head of the Program Management Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity and in consultation with the NAIRR Steering Subcommittee, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency—

(1)

shall establish minimum security requirements for all persons interacting with the NAIRR, consistent with the most recent version of the Cybersecurity Framework, or successor document, maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and

(2)

may establish tiers of security requirements and user access controls beyond the minimum requirements relative to security risks.

(e) Fee schedule

The head of the Program Management Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity, may establish a fee schedule for access to the NAIRR. Fees charged under this subsection may be retained and used for the purposes of this title. The Operating Entity may only charge fees in such fee schedule. Such fee schedule—

(1)

may differ by type of eligible user and type of affiliated entity described in subsection (a);

(2)

shall include a free tier of access based on appropriated funds and anticipated costs and demand;

(3)

may include cost-based charges for eligible users to purchase resources of the NAIRR beyond the resources included in a free or subsidized tier; and

(4)

shall ensure that the primary purpose of the NAIRR is to support research.

(f) Research security

The head of the Program Management Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity and in consultation with the NAIRR Steering Subcommittee and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall—

(1)

ensure conformance with the requirements of National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (relating to supported research and development national policy), issued January 2021, and its implementation guidance on research security and research integrity, or any successor policy document or guidance, by establishing NAIRR operating principles that emphasize the research integrity principles of openness, reciprocity, and transparency; and

(2)

designate a member of the leadership team for the Operating Entity as a research security point of contact with responsibility for overseeing conformance with the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 and its implementation guidance, or any successor policy document or guidance.

5605. NAIRR funding

To carry out this title, to the maximum extent practicable, the NAIRR is authorized to accept and use donations of cash, services, and personal property from the private sector.

(c) Conforming amendments

The table of contents in section 2(b) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283; 134 Stat. 3388) is amended by inserting after the items relating to title LV the following:

(a) Partnerships

As part of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource pilot program (in this section referred to as the Program), the Director of the National Science Foundation (in this section referred to as the Director) shall partner with leading technology companies to increase access to world-class private sector computing, models, data, and software resources in the research community.

(b) Connection

The Director shall ensure the Program is operationally capable of connecting researchers and educators in the United States to critical AI resources.

(a) Definitions

In this section:

(b) Establishment of program

(c) Grand challenges selection and grand challenges information

(d) Additional consultation

The Director may consult with, and incorporate effective practices from, other entities that have developed successful large-scale technology demonstration prize competitions, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, other Federal agencies, private sector enterprises, and nonprofit organizations, in the development and implementation of the AI Grand Challenges Program and related prize competitions, including on the requirements under subsection (e).

(e) Requirements

(f) Prize amount

(g) Funding

(h) Reports

(i) Accessibility

In carrying out the AI Grand Challenges Program, the Director shall post the active prize competitions and available prize awards under subsection (b) to Challenge.gov after the grand challenges are selected and the prize competitions are designed pursuant to subsections (c) and (e) to ensure the prize competitions are widely accessible to eligible participants.

(a) In general

The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall establish a grant program to award grants to eligible entities to perform research regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence in health care.

(b) Permissible research

Research funded pursuant to a grant under this section may include research regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence to—

(c) Priority

In awarding grants under this section, the Director of the National Institutes of Health shall give priority to eligible entities that—

(d) Definitions

In this section:

(a) In general

The Secretary of Agriculture (in this section referred to as the Secretary) and the Director of the National Science Foundation (in this section referred to as the Director) shall carry out cross-cutting and collaborative research and development activities focused on the joint advancement of Department of Agriculture and National Science Foundation mission requirements and priorities.

(b) Memoranda of understanding

The Secretary and the Director shall coordinate the activities under subsection (a) through the establishment of memoranda of understanding or other appropriate interagency agreements. Such memoranda or agreements, as the case may be, shall require the use of a competitive, merit review process, as appropriate. Such activities may include components proposed by Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, non-profit institutions, and other appropriate entities, as determined appropriate under the memoranda or agreements.

(c) Coordination

In carrying out the activities under subsection (a), the Secretary and the Director may—

(d) Agreements

In carrying out the activities under subsection (a), the Secretary and the Director are authorized to—

(e) Report

Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the appropriate committees of Congress, a report detailing the following:

(f) Research security

The activities authorized under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.; enacted as part of division B of Public Law 117–167).

(g) Definitions

In this section:

(a) In general

Title LV of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–283) is amended to read as follows:

LV Department of Energy Artificial Intelligence Research Program

5501. Department of Energy artificial intelligence research program

(a) In general

The Secretary shall carry out a cross-cutting research and development program to advance artificial intelligence tools, systems, capabilities, and workforce needs and develop artificial intelligence capabilities for the purposes of advancing the missions of the Department (in this section referred to as the program). In carrying out such program, the Secretary shall coordinate across all relevant offices and programs of the Department, including the Office of Science, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Office of Nuclear Energy, the Office of Fossil Energy, the Office of Electricity, the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, Emergency Response, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

(b) Research areas

In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall award financial assistance to eligible entities to carry out research projects on topics including the following:

(1)

The application of artificial intelligence systems to improve large-scale simulations of natural and other phenomena.

(2)

The study of applied mathematics, computer science, and statistics, including foundations of methods and systems of artificial intelligence, causal and statistical inference, and the development of algorithms for artificial intelligence systems.

(3)

The analysis of existing and new large-scale datasets from science and engineering experiments and simulations, including energy simulations and sponsored research activities, and, as determined by the Secretary, other priorities of the Department that utilize artificial intelligence tools and techniques.

(4)

The development of operation and control systems that enhance automated, intelligent decision-making capabilities.

(5)

The development of advanced computing hardware and computer architecture tailored to artificial intelligence systems, including the following:

(A)

The codesign of software and computational hardware.

(B)

Energy-efficient computing hardware and algorithms for artificial intelligence training and inference.

(C)

Mechanisms to improve the energy efficiency of data centers, including relevant energy efficiency benchmarks for such centers.

(6)

The aggregation, curation, and distribution of standardized datasets for emerging artificial intelligence research fields and applications, including methods for addressing data scarcity.

(7)

The development of advanced artificial intelligence systems for pressing scientific, energy, and national security applications.

(8)

The development of trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, including the following:

(A)

Algorithmic explainability.

(B)

Analytical methods for identifying and mitigating bias in artificial intelligence systems.

(C)

Safety and robustness, including assurance, verification, validation, security, and control.

(c) Technology transfer

In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall support technology transfer of artificial intelligence systems for the benefit of society and United States economic competitiveness.

(d) Facility use and upgrades

In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall carry out the following:

(1)

Make available high-performance computing infrastructure at National Laboratories for the development and use of advanced artificial intelligence systems.

(2)

Make any upgrades necessary to enhance the use of existing computing facilities for artificial intelligence systems, including upgrades to hardware and other resources necessary for developing, training, and evaluating advanced artificial intelligence technologies.

(3)

Establish new computing capabilities necessary to manage data and conduct high performance computing that enables the development and use of advanced artificial intelligence systems.

(4)

Maintain and improve, as needed, networking infrastructure, data input and output mechanisms, and data analysis, storage, and service capabilities.

(5)

Facilitate the development of unclassified and classified high-performance computing systems and artificial intelligence platforms through Department-owned infrastructure data and computing facilities.

(6)

Provide other resources necessary for the Department to develop, train, and evaluate advanced artificial intelligence systems and related technologies.

(e) Testbeds for next-Generation computing platforms and infrastructure

(1) In general

In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall establish at least one data center testbed for the development and assessment of hardware and algorithms for energy-efficient and energy-flexible artificial intelligence training and inference.

(2) Activities

In carrying out the testbed established under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall carry out the following:

(A)

Test and evaluate new software, hardware, codesign of hardware and software, algorithms, networking, and other artificial intelligence-based technologies and applications to improve energy efficiency across the artificial intelligence ecosystem.

(B)

Carry out cooperative research projects with industry, including end user companies, hardware systems vendors, artificial intelligence developers, data center developers and operators, energy utilities, and other appropriate stakeholders.

(f) Aggregation, curation, and distribution of artificial intelligence training datasets

In carrying out activities described in subsection (b)(6), the Secretary shall develop methods, platforms, protocols, and other tools required for efficient, responsible, and effective aggregation, generation, curation, and distribution of artificial intelligence training and inference datasets, including the following:

(1)

Assembling, aggregating, and curating large-scale training data for advanced artificial intelligence systems, including outputs from research programs of the Department and other open science data, with the goal of developing comprehensive scientific artificial intelligence training databases and testing and validation data.

(2)

Developing dataset documentation and metadata protocols and visualization tools, taking into account appropriate standards and guidelines to promote interoperability and consistency in documentation.

(3)

Developing and implementing appropriate data management plans for the ethical, responsible, and secure use of classified and unclassified scientific data.

(4)

Identifying, curating, and safely distributing, as appropriate based on the application, the following:

(A)

Scientific and experimental departmental datasets.

(B)

Sponsored research activities that are needed for the training of foundational and adapted downstream artificial intelligence systems.

(5)

Partnering with stakeholders to curate critical datasets that reside outside the Department but are determined by the Secretary to be critical to optimizing the capabilities of advanced artificial intelligence systems relevant to the missions of the Department.

(g) Development of advanced artificial intelligence systems for pressing scientific, energy, and national security applications

In carrying out subsection (b)(7), the Secretary shall carry out the following:

(1)

Develop innovative concepts in applied mathematics, computer science, engineering, and other science disciplines needed for advanced artificial intelligence systems.

(2)

Develop best-in-class advanced artificial intelligence systems, model derivatives that support downstream use cases, and other technologies to solve pressing scientific, energy, and national security challenges.

(3)

Carry out cooperative research projects with industry, including end user companies, hardware systems vendors, and artificial intelligence software companies, to advance artificial intelligence technologies relevant to the missions of the Department and mitigate risks associated with such technologies.

(4)

In coordination with the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Homeland Security, research counter-adversarial artificial intelligence solutions to predict, prevent, mitigate, and respond to threats to critical infrastructure, energy security, and nuclear nonproliferation, and biological and chemical threats.

(5)

In coordination with energy utilities, State energy offices, data center developers and operators, and other key stakeholders the Secretary determines appropriate, carry out research to examine how artificial intelligence technologies may be impacted by or applied to energy supply bottlenecks, energy demand projections, site reliability challenges, and data center operational flexibilities.

(6)

Establish crosscutting research efforts to understand and mitigate artificial intelligence-related risks, including the establishment of unclassified and classified data platforms across the Department.

(h) Shared resources for artificial intelligence

(1) In general

As part of the program, the Secretary shall identify, support, and sustain shared resources and enabling tools that have the potential to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and technological innovation with respect to the missions of the Department relating to science, energy, and national security.

(2) Consultation

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult with relevant experts in the Federal Government, industry, energy utilities, academia, State energy offices, and the National Laboratories.

(3) Focus

Shared resources and enabling tools referred to in paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A)

Scientific data and knowledge bases for training artificial intelligence systems.

(B)

Benchmarks and competitions for evaluating advances in artificial intelligence systems.

(C)

Platform technologies that lower the cost of generating training data or enable the generation of training data.

(D)

High-performance computing, including hybrid computing systems that integrate artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

(E)

The combination of artificial intelligence and scientific automation, such as cloud labs and self-driving labs.

(F)

Tools that enable artificial intelligence to solve inverse design problems.

(G)

Testbeds for accelerating progress at the intersection of artificial intelligence and cyberphysical systems.

(H)

Testbeds for testing and evaluating artificial intelligence-based technologies and applications to improve energy efficiency across artificial intelligence systems, in accordance with subsection (e).

(4) Interagency coordination

The Secretary shall ensure coordination with, and avoid unnecessary duplication of, activities to provide shared resources with the National Science Foundation, the agencies participating in the Interagency Committee established under section 5103 of this Act, and the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program authorized under section 101 of the High Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511).

(i) Artificial intelligence research institutes

The Secretary shall support on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis not fewer than two multidisciplinary artificial intelligence research institutes pursuant to section 5201 of this Act.

(j) Research To improve energy permitting processes

In consultation with the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council established under section 41002(a) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m–1(a)), the Secretary shall carry out research and development activities to evaluate the potential for utilizing artificial intelligence to improve Federal permitting processes for energy-related projects, including critical materials (as such term is defined in section 7002 of title VII of division Z of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260; 30 U.S.C. 1606)) projects, by building tools to improve future reviews and analyzing data from past environmental and other permitting reviews to inform more flexible and effective categorical exclusions.

(k) Risk management

(1) In general

The Secretary shall review agency policies for risk management in artificial intelligence related projects and issue, as necessary, policies and principles that are consistent with the framework developed under section 22A of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h–1(c)).

(2) Taxonomy

The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the National Security Agency, and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall develop a taxonomy of safety and security risks associated with artificial intelligence systems relevant to the missions of the Department.

(l) Stem education and workforce development

As part of the program, the Secretary, in coordination with the Director of the National Science Foundation, may develop the required workforce, and hire and train researchers to meet the rising demand for artificial intelligence talent, including by carrying out the following:

(1)

Providing training, grants, and research opportunities, including experiential learning experiences for undergraduate and graduate students in advanced artificial intelligence systems.

(2)

Carrying out public awareness campaigns regarding artificial intelligence related career paths.

(3)

Assisting institutions of higher education to establish new degree and certificate programs in artificial intelligence-related disciplines.

(m) Administration

(1) Research security

The activities authorized under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.; enacted as part of division B of Public Law 117–167).

(2) Cybersecurity

The Secretary shall ensure the integration of robust cybersecurity measures into all artificial intelligence research-to-deployment efforts authorized under this section to protect the integrity and confidentiality of collected and analyzed data.

(3) Ethical considerations

Taking into account the guidance issued pursuant to section 10343(c) of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19052(c)), the Secretary shall issue guidance governing the ethical, safe, and responsible conduct of research activities funded by the Department and performed at National Laboratories and user facilities.

(n) Data privacy and sharing

The Secretary shall review agency policies for data sharing with other public and private sector organizations and issue, as necessary, policies and principles that are consistent with the standards and guidelines submitted under section 22A of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h–1(e)). In addition, the Secretary shall establish a streamlined mechanism for approving research projects or partnerships that require sharing sensitive public or private data with the Department.

(o) Partnerships

(1) Federal partnerships

The Secretary may request, accept, and provide funds from other Federal departments and agencies, State, United States territory, local, or Tribal government agencies, private sector for-profit entities, and nonprofit entities, to be available to the extent provided by appropriations Acts, to support a research project or partnership carried out under this section. The Secretary may not give any special consideration to any agency or entity in return for a donation.

(2) Partnerships with private entities

(A) In general

The Secretary shall seek to establish partnerships with private companies and nonprofit organizations in carrying out this section.

(B) Requirement

In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall protect any information submitted to or shared by the Department consistent with applicable laws and regulations.

(p) Stakeholder engagement

In carrying out the activities authorized in this section, the Secretary shall carry out the following:

(1)

Collaborate with a range of stakeholders, including small businesses, institutes of higher education, industry, and the National Laboratories.

(2)

Leverage the collective body of knowledge from existing artificial intelligence and machine learning research.

(3)

Engage with other Federal departments and agencies, research communities, and potential users of information produced under this section.

(q) Strategic plan

(1) In general

In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall develop a strategic plan with specific short-term and long-term goals and resource needs to advance applications in artificial intelligence for science, energy, and national security to support the missions of the Department. The strategic plan shall be consistent with the following:

(A)

The 2023 National Laboratory workshop report entitled Advanced Research Directions on AI for Science, Energy, and Security.

(B)

The 2024 National Laboratory workshop report entitled AI for Energy.

(C)

The strategic plan required under section 5103 of division E of this Act (15 U.S.C. 9413).

(2) Report to Congress

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee of Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate the strategic plan required under paragraph (1), and shall notify such committees of any substantial updates to such plan in subsequent years.

(r) Definitions

In this section:

(1) Department

The term Department means the Department of Energy.

(2) Eligible entities

The term eligible entities means any of the following:

(A)

An institution of higher education.

(B)

A National Laboratory.

(C)

A Federal research agency.

(D)

A State research agency.

(E)

A nonprofit research organization.

(F)

A private sector entity.

(G)

A consortium of two or more entities described in subparagraphs (A) through (F).

(3) National Laboratory

The term National Laboratory has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).

(4) Nonprofit organization

The term nonprofit organization has the meaning given such term in section 201 of title 35, United States Code.

(5) Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.

(6) Testbed

The term testbed means any platform, facility, or environment that enables the testing and evaluation of scientific theories and new technologies, including hardware, software, or field environments in which structured frameworks can be implemented to conduct tests to assess the performance, reliability, safety, and security of a wide range of items, including prototypes, systems, applications, artificial intelligence systems, instruments, computational tools, devices, and other technological innovations.

(s) Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2032.

5502. Ensuring energy security for data centers and computing resources

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to Congress a report that includes the following:

(1)

An assessment of the following:

(A)

The growth of computing data centers and advanced computing electrical power load in the United States.

(B)

Potential risks of growth in computing centers or growth in the required electrical power to United States energy security and national security.

(C)

The extent to which emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and advanced computing, may impact hardware and software systems used at data and computing centers.

(D)

Cost, performance, reliability, availability, space requirements, emissions, and supply chain issues for current technologies, including renewable diesel, natural gas, renewable natural gas, fuel cells, nuclear energy, battery storage, enhanced geothermal, long-duration energy storage, and other potentially viable technologies available to support regional data center expansion and for backup power.

(2)

Recommendations for the following:

(A)

Resources and capabilities that the Department of Energy may provide to promote access to energy resources by data centers, advanced computing hardware and algorithms, and artificial intelligence systems (as defined in section 7223 of the Advancing American AI Act (40 U.S.C. 11301 note; Public Law 117–263)).

(B)

Policy changes to ensure domestic deployment of data center and advanced computing resources to prevent offshoring of United States data and resources.

(C)

Improving the energy efficiency of data centers, advanced computing hardware and algorithms, and artificial intelligence systems.

(b) Clerical amendments

The tables of contents in section 2(b) and title LV of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 are amended by inserting after the items relating to section 5501 the following new items:

(a) In general

Title LIII of division E of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283; 134 Stat. 4523) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

5305. Federal standards for artificial intelligence

(a) In general

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (in this section referred to as the Director) shall—

(1)

develop standards and guidelines, including minimum requirements, for artificial intelligence systems used or operated by an agency or by a contractor of an agency or other organization on behalf of an agency, other than national security systems;

(2)

develop standards and guidelines, including minimum requirements, for managing risks associated with artificial intelligence systems for all agency operations and assets, but such standards and guidelines shall not apply to national security systems;

(3)

develop standards and guidelines, including minimum requirements, for authenticating, tracking provenance, and labeling synthetic content generated by an agency or by a contractor of an agency or other organization on behalf of an agency, other than national security systems; and

(4)

conduct research and development pursuant to section 5301 to inform the development of standards and guidelines for activities described in this section.

(b) Standards and guidelines

In developing standards and guidelines required by subsection (a), the Director shall—

(1)

provide standards and guidelines, practices, profiles, and tools consistent with the framework under subsection (c) of section 22A of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h–1), and information on how agencies can leverage such framework to reduce risks caused by agency implementation in the development, procurement, and use of artificial intelligence systems;

(2)

provide standards and guidelines that—

(A)

are consistent with Circular A–119 of the Office of Management and Budget; and

(B)

enable conformity assessment;

(3)

recommend training on standards and guidelines for each agency responsible for procuring artificial intelligence;

(4)

develop and periodically revise performance indicators and measures for agency artificial intelligence related standards and guidelines;

(5)

provide standards and guidelines, including minimum requirements, for developing profiles for agency use of artificial intelligence consistent with such framework;

(6)

develop profiles for framework use for an entity that is a small business concern (as such term is defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632));

(7)

evaluate artificial intelligence policies and practices developed for national security systems to assess potential application by agencies to strengthen risk management of artificial intelligence systems; and

(8)

periodically assess the effectiveness of standards and guidelines developed under this section and undertake revisions as appropriate.

(c) Readiness

For standards and guidelines developed pursuant to subsection (a) that are deemed by the Director to be at a readiness level sufficient for standardization, the Director shall—

(1)

submit such standards and guidelines to the Secretary of Commerce for promulgation under section 11331 of title 40, United States Code;

(2)

where practicable and appropriate, provide technical review and assistance to agencies; and

(3)

evaluate the effectiveness and sufficiency of, and challenges to, agency implementation of such standards and guidelines.

(d) Testing and evaluation of artificial intelligence acquisitions

(1) Study

Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Director shall complete a study to review the existing and forthcoming voluntary technical standards for the testing, evaluation, verification, and validation of artificial intelligence acquisitions.

(2) Testing and evaluation standards

Not later than 90 days after the date of the completion of the study required by paragraph (1), the Director shall—

(A)

develop standards and guidelines for the testing, evaluation, verification, and validation of artificial intelligence acquisitions pursuant to this section;

(B)

convene relevant stakeholders to facilitate such development;

(C)

continuously update such standards and guidelines; and

(D)

review and make recommendations to the head of each agency on risk management policies and principles for relevant artificial intelligence acquisitions.

(e) Definitions

In this section:

(1) Agency

The term agency means any department, independent establishment, Government corporation, or other agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government.

(2) National security system

The term national security system has the meaning given such term in section 3552 of title 44, United States Code.

(3) Profile

The term profile means an implementation of the artificial intelligence risk management functions, categories, and subcategories for a specific setting or application based on the requirements, risk tolerance, and resources of the user of the framework at issue.

(4) Synthetic content

The term synthetic content means information, such as images, videos, audio clips, and text, that has been significantly modified or generated by algorithms, including by artificial intelligence.

(b) Clerical amendments

The tables of contents in section 2(b) and title LIII of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 are amended by inserting after the items relating to section 5304, as added by section 101(b), the following new items:

(1) Agency

The term agency has the meaning given the term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code.

(2) Artificial intelligence

The term artificial intelligence has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).

(3) Artificial intelligence system

The term artificial intelligence system—

(4) Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer

The term Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer means an official designated by the head of an agency pursuant to section 313(b)(1).

(5) Council

The term Council means the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officers Council established under section 312(a).

(6) Director

The term Director means the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(7) Relevant congressional committees

The term relevant congressional committees means the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives.

(a) Establishment

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish a Chief Artificial Intelligence Officers Council.

(b) Duties

The Council shall—

(c) Membership of CAIOC

(d) Administrative support

The Administrator of General Services shall provide administrative support for the Council.

(a) Duties of agencies

The head of each agency shall ensure the responsible research, development, acquisition, application, governance, and use of artificial intelligence by the agency that is consistent with democratic values, including—

(b) Chief artificial intelligence officer

(c) Informing Congress

Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall—

(a) Establishment

Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue guidance directing the head of each agency described in section 901(b) of title 31, United States Code, to establish within the agency an Artificial Intelligence Coordination Board to—

(b) Contents

The guidance issued under subsection (a) shall—

(c) Strategy

(a) In general

Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the relevant congressional committees a report on—

(b) Additional report

Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the relevant congressional committees a report on the impact of biased datasets on Federal use and implementation of artificial intelligence systems.

(1)

consider technological and other developments, current and future requirements, and options for artificial intelligence governance; and

(2)

issue a directive to agencies—

(a) Update to national vulnerability database

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in coordination with industry stakeholders, standards development organizations, and appropriate Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall carry out the following:

(b) Assessing voluntary tracking of substantial artificial intelligence security and safety incidents

(c) Limitation

Nothing in this section provides the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology with any enforcement authority that was not in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this section.

(d) Definitions

In this section:

(a) In general

There is established in the Department of Labor the AI Workforce Research Hub (in this section referred to as the Hub).

(b) Duties

The Secretary of Labor, acting through the Hub and in collaboration with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, shall carry out the following:

(c) AI defined

In this section, the term AI has the meaning given the term artificial intelligence in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).

(1)

by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and

(2)

by inserting after subsection (g) the following new subsection:

(h) Development of resources for small businesses in utilizing artificial intelligence

(1) In general

The Director shall, in carrying out subsection (a), develop or identify, and disseminate (in accordance with paragraph (4)), resources for small business concerns (as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)) relating to artificial intelligence. Such resources may include technical standards, best practices, benchmarks, methodologies, procedures, or processes for the understanding, adoption, or integration of artificial intelligence.

(2) Requirements

The Director shall ensure that the resources described in paragraph (1) satisfy the following requirements:

(A)

Are generally applicable and usable by a wide range of small business concerns.

(B)

Include elements that promote basic understanding, identification, and adoption of proper use cases of artificial intelligence.

(C)

Include case studies of practical application across a range of business sizes and types.

(D)

Are technology-neutral and relevant to technologies that are accessible and suitable for small business concerns.

(E)

Are based on international voluntary standards as applicable, and are consistent with the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.).

(F)

Include recommendations and references to existing Federal educational resources, including the risk management framework under subsection (c) and activities relating to the national cybersecurity awareness and education program under section 303 of the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 (15 U.S.C. 7443).

(3) Review and update of resources

Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this subsection and not less frequently than once every two years thereafter, the Director shall carry out the following:

(A)

Review the resources described in paragraph (1).

(B)

Update such resources as the Director considers appropriate.

(4) Dissemination and use of training resources

The Director shall coordinate with the Administrator of the Small Business Administration regarding the distribution and use through the resource partners of the Small Business Administration of the resources described in paragraph (1).

(5) Voluntary resources

The use of the resources described in paragraph (1) shall be considered voluntary.

(6) Report

(A) In general

Not later than four years after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the development, identification, dissemination, and use of the resources described in paragraph (1), including updates made pursuant to paragraph (3).

(B) Contents

The report under subparagraph (A) shall include the following:

(i)

A list of the resources described in paragraph (1), including updates made pursuant to paragraph (3).

(ii)

Relevant feedback from recipients of such resources, and disseminators of such resources pursuant to paragraph (4).

(iii)

Recommendations to Congress for further actions to help with the utilization of artificial intelligence by small business concerns.

(a) Definitions

Section 1309 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851) is amended—

(b) Civil action

Section 1309(b) of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851(b)) is amended—

(c) Continued applicability of Federal, State, and Tribal law

(a) Severability

If any provision of this subtitle, an amendment made by this subtitle, or the application of such a provision or amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of and amendments made by this subtitle, and the application of the provision or amendment held to be unconstitutional to any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby.

(b) Rule of construction

Nothing in this subtitle, or an amendment made by this subtitle, shall be construed to limit or expand any law pertaining to intellectual property.

(a) Mail fraud

Section 1341 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(b) Wire fraud

Section 1343 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(c) Bank fraud

Section 1344 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(d) Artificial intelligence defined

(e) Money laundering

Section 1956 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(1) AI security vulnerability

The term AI security vulnerability means any failure or lapse in security that could potentially allow emerging artificial intelligence technology to be acquired by a person (including a foreign entity) by theft or other means.

(2) AI violation

The term AI violation means—

(3) Artificial intelligence

The term artificial intelligence includes any of the following:

(4) Artificial system

The term artificial system—

(5) Commerce; industry or activity affecting commerce

The terms commerce and industry or activity affecting commerce mean any activity, business, or industry in commerce or in which a labor dispute would hinder or obstruct commerce or the free flow of commerce, and include commerce and any industry affecting commerce, as defined in section 501 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 142).

(6) Covered individual

The term covered individual includes—

(7) Emerging artificial intelligence technology

The term emerging artificial intelligence technology, with respect to an AI security vulnerability, means any artificial system that exhibits a level of performance, complexity, or autonomy that is comparable to or exceeds capabilities that are generally considered state-of-the-art as of the time of the AI security vulnerability.

(8) Employer

The term employer means any person (including any officer, employee, contractor, subcontractor, agent, company, partnership, or other individual or entity) engaged in commerce or an industry or activity affecting commerce who pays any compensation to a covered individual in exchange for the covered individual providing work to the person.

(a) Prohibition against retaliation

No employer may, directly or indirectly, discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, blacklist, harass, or in any other manner discriminate against a covered individual in the terms and conditions of employment or post-employment of the covered individual (or the terms and conditions of work provided by the covered individual as an independent contractor) because of any lawful act done by the covered individual—

(b) Enforcement

(c) Nonenforceability waivers of rights or remedies

The rights and remedies provided for in this section may not be waived or altered by any contract, agreement, policy form, or condition of employment (or condition of work as an independent contractor), including by any agreement requiring a covered individual to engage in arbitration, mediation, or any other alternative dispute resolution process prior to seeking relief under subsection (b).

(a) In general

Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

45BB. Employee cybersecurity education

(a) In general

For purposes of section 38, the employee cybersecurity education credit determined under this section for the taxable year is an amount equal to 50 percent of the aggregate qualified employee cybersecurity education expenses paid or incurred by the employer during such taxable year.

(b) Limitation

The amount allowed as a credit under subsection (a) for the taxable year with respect to an employee shall not exceed $5,000.

(c) Qualified employee cybersecurity education expenses

For purposes of this section, the term qualified employee cybersecurity education expenses means amounts paid or incurred for each employee who earns a certificate or degree at the undergraduate or graduate level or industry-recognized certification relating to those specialty areas and work roles that are listed in NCWF Work Roles in the document entitled, NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (NCWF), or any successor thereto, published by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

(d) Certain rules To apply

Rules similar to the rules of subsections (i)(1) and (k) of section 51 shall apply for purposes of this section.

(b) Credit made part of general business credit

Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is amended—

(c) Denial of double benefit

Subsection (a) of section 280C of such Code is amended by inserting 45BB(a), after 45S(a),.

(d) Clerical amendment

The table of sections for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

(e) Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(a) In general

The head of an executive agency shall award a five percent score increase to each competitive proposal submitted by a qualified offeror for the evaluation of a competitive proposal received in response to a solicitation for a contract valued in excess of $5,000,000.

(b) Applicability

This section shall apply with respect to any solicitation issued on an after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(c) Definitions

In this section:

(a) Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that—

(b) Awards

The Director may make awards on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations (and consortia thereof) to support research activities to develop educational curricula and evaluation methods for AI literacy at the K–12 education level.

(c) Use of award funds

Activities funded by awards made under this section may include the following:

(d) Implementation

The Director may carry out this section by making awards through new or existing programs.

(e) Definitions

In this section:

(1)

redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and

(2)

inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsection:

(g) Expanding capacity in artificial intelligence

(1) In general

The Director of the National Science Foundation, in consultation with agency heads the Director considers appropriate, shall make awards on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to eligible institutions of higher education specified in paragraph (2) or nonprofit organizations (or consortia thereof) to broaden participation in artificial intelligence research, education, and workforce development by increasing the ability of the United States to increase capacity and partnerships for artificial intelligence research and development.

(2) Eligible institutions of higher education specified

An eligible institution of higher education specified in this paragraph is any of the following:

(A)

An institution of higher education, that, according to the data published by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, is not, on average, among the top 100 institutions in Federal research and development expenditures during the 3-year period prior to the year of the award concerned.

(B)

A historically Black college or university.

(C)

A minority-serving institution.

(D)

A Tribal College or University.

(E)

A consortium of any of the entities specified in subparagraphs (A) through (D).

(3) Collaborations

A consortium receiving an award under this subsection may include any of the following:

(A)

Mutually beneficial partnerships with institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, Federal agencies, State, territorial, local, and Tribal governments, and private sector entities.

(B)

Developing partnerships with any of the following:

(i)

Artificial intelligence research institutes under section 5201.

(ii)

Recipients of other relevant awards made by the Director of the National Science Foundation.

(4) Use of funds

In carrying out the activities under this subsection, an eligible institution of higher education or nonprofit organization (or consortium thereof) shall carry out one or more of the following:

(A)

Development or expansion of research programs in artificial intelligence and related disciplines.

(B)

Faculty recruitment and professional development in artificial intelligence and related disciplines.

(C)

Bridge programs focused on preparing post-baccalaureate students for graduate programs in artificial intelligence and related disciplines.

(D)

Provide or broker access to research resources, including computing resources, networking, data facilities, and software engineering support for artificial intelligence research and development.

(E)

Community building activities to foster mutually beneficial public-private collaboration with Federal research agencies, industry, Federal laboratories, academia, and nonprofit organizations.

(F)

Development and hosting of intra- or inter-institutional workshops to broaden workforce participation in artificial intelligence research and development.

(G)

Activities to integrate ethical and responsible practices and principles into education programs in artificial intelligence and related disciplines.

(H)

Other activities necessary to build research capacity, education pathways, and workforce development pathways in artificial intelligence and related disciplines.

(5) Outreach

The Director of the National Science Foundation shall—

(A)

conduct outreach to eligible institutions of higher education specified in paragraph (2) and nonprofit organizations to apply for awards under this subsection; and

(B)

engage participants from all regions of the United States, especially individuals from underserved communities and groups historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

(6) Duplication

The Director of the National Science Foundation shall ensure awards made under this section are complimentary to, and not duplicative of, awards made under existing programs.

(7) Additional considerations

In making awards under this subsection, the Director of the National Science Foundation may also consider the following:

(A)

The extent to which the eligible institutions of higher education specified in paragraph (2) and nonprofit organizations applying for such awards support students from diverse backgrounds, including first-generation undergraduate students.

(B)

The geographic diversity of such institutions and organizations.

(C)

Relative resource constraints of such institutions and organizations.

(8) Definitions

In this subsection:

(A) Historically Black college or university

The term historically Black college or university has the meaning given the term part B institution in section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061).

(B) Minority-serving institution

The term minority-serving institution means a Hispanic-serving institution (as defined in section 502 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a)); an Alaska Native-serving institution or Native Hawaiian-serving institution (as defined in section 317 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1059d)); or a predominantly Black institution, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution, or Native American-serving nontribal institution (as defined in section 371 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1067q)).

(C) Nonprofit organization

The term nonprofit organization means an organization described in subsection (c)(3) of section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under subsection (a) of such section.

(D) Tribal College or University

The term Tribal College or University has the meaning given such term in section 316 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c).

(1)

in the heading, by striking faculty; and

(2)

by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:

(D) Student scholarships and fellowships in artificial intelligence

(i) In general

The Director of the National Science Foundation may support scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students by making awards through institutions of higher education, including community colleges, to students who are enrolled in programs of study leading to degrees or concentrations in or related to the design, research, assessment, development, deployment, integration, or application of artificial intelligence.

(ii) Considerations

In carrying out clause (i), the Director of the National Science Foundation may prioritize making awards to students who are enrolled in programs of study leading to degrees or concentrations in or related to any of the following:

(I)

The teaching of artificial intelligence at elementary schools, secondary schools, career and technical education schools, institutions of higher education, or through other higher education and professional education programs.

(II)

Artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, including the integration of artificial intelligence into advanced manufacturing operations.

(III)

Artificial intelligence and agriculture, including the integration of artificial intelligence into agricultural operations, prediction, and decision making.

(iii) Awards

Scholarships and fellowships awarded under this subparagraph may be in the form of awards that cover the cost of tuition, education-related fees, a stipend, and professional development funds for a period of up to five years. Such scholarships and fellowships shall be paid directly to the institution of higher education in which the student is enrolled.

(iv) Outreach

The Director of the National Science Foundation shall conduct outreach and encourage applications from rural-located institutions of higher education, rural-serving institutions of higher education (as such term is defined in section 861 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161q)), Tribal Colleges and Universities (as such term is defined in section 316 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1059c)), and institutions located in an Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) jurisdiction.

(v) Method

The Director of the National Science Foundation may carry out this subparagraph by making awards through new or existing programs.

(E) Artificial intelligence professional development fellowships

(i) In general

The Director of the National Science Foundation may support activities to promote the exchange of ideas and encourage collaborations between institutions of higher education and industry partners in the field of artificial intelligence, including through fellowships for students, teachers, faculty, and industry professionals.

(ii) Supplementals for students and faculty

The Director of the National Science Foundation may award fellowships for students and faculty to pursue professional development programs in STEM fields that are administered by or affiliated with institutions of higher education, including community colleges, in order to enable recipients to attain skills, training, or education in partnership with industry members on the design, research, assessment, development, deployment, integration, or application of artificial intelligence.

(iii) Fellowships for industry professionals

The Director of the National Science Foundation may award fellowships to industry professionals to enable recipients to seek short-term appointments to instruct and educate students on the design, research, assessment, development, deployment, integration, or application of artificial intelligence.

(iv) Fellowships for school professionals

The Director of the National Science Foundation may award fellowships to teachers, school counselors, and other school professionals for professional development programs in order to enable recipients to attain skills, training, or education in partnership with industry members on the teaching, use of, or application of artificial intelligence in K–12 education settings.

(v) Awards

Awards made under this subparagraph may be in the form of awards that cover the cost of tuition, education-related fees, a stipend, and professional development funds for up to one year. Such awards shall be paid directly to the institution of higher education that administers, or is affiliated with, the program in which the fellowship recipient is participating.

(F) National Science Foundation outreach campaign

(i) In general

The Director of the National Science Foundation may carry out a nationwide outreach campaign to students at elementary schools, secondary schools, career and technical education schools, institutions of higher education, or through other higher education and professional education programs to increase awareness regarding National Science Foundation-funded artificial intelligence education opportunities.

(ii) Priority

In carrying out the campaign described in clause (i), the Director of the National Science Foundation may prioritize outreach to groups historically underrepresented in STEM, including in underserved and rural areas.

(G) Eligibility

To be eligible to receive a scholarship or fellowship under this paragraph, an individual shall satisfy all of the following:

(i)

Be a citizen, national, or lawful permanent resident of the United States.

(ii)

Demonstrate a commitment to a career in advancing the field of artificial intelligence.

(iii)

Accept the terms of such scholarship or fellowship, as the case may be.

(H) Report

(i) In general

Not later than seven years after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph, the Director of the National Science Foundation shall submit to Congress, and make widely available to the public, a report including any recommendations for legislative action that could optimize the effectiveness of the scholarships and fellowships under this paragraph.

(ii) Report requirements

In preparing the report under clause (i), the Director of the National Science Foundation may, as practicable—

(I)

include an assessment of the effectiveness of such scholarships and fellowships in expanding apprenticeships, internships, and other applied or experiential learning opportunities offered by employers in conjunction with community colleges or other institutions of higher education;

(II)

assess the number of students who received such scholarships and fellowships;

(III)

assess the percentage of such students who successfully complete their education programs and intend to enter the workforce;

(IV)

assess the percentage of undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students who enter the workforce in a field relating to such a scholarship or fellowship;

(V)

assess the impact in the number of K–12 teachers, school counselors, and other school professionals who received such a scholarship or fellowship; and

(VI)

include an assessment of the effects such scholarships and fellowships have on related fields.

(a) In general

Subparagraph (B) of section 5401(e)(3) of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9451(e)(3)) is amended to read as follows:

(B) Centers of AI Excellence

(i) Definitions

In this subparagraph:

(I) Area career and technical education school

The term area career and technical education school has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302).

(II) Eligible applicant

The term eligible applicant means a community college, or area career and technical education school, in partnership with one or more of the following:

(aa)

A Federal, State, local, territorial, or Tribal government entity.

(bb)

An institution of higher education.

(cc)

An entity in private industry.

(dd)

An economic development organization or venture development organization.

(ee)

A labor or workforce training organization, which may include State workforce development boards and local workforce development boards as established under sections 101 and 107 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 and 3122).

(ff)

A nonprofit organization.

(III) Nonprofit organization

The term nonprofit organization has the meaning given such term in section 201 of title 35, United States Code.

(IV) Venture development organization

The term venture development organization has the meaning given such term in section 27 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3722).

(ii) Establishment of Centers of AI Excellence

The Director of the National Science Foundation, in coordination with the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub program of the Department of Commerce, and leveraging the Regional Innovation Engines, the Advanced Technological Education program, and other programs of the National Science Foundation, shall establish up to eight regionally and geographically diverse eligible applicants to be designated as Community College and Area Career and Technical Education Centers of AI Excellence (referred to in this subparagraph as Centers of AI Excellence). Such Centers of AI Excellence shall enhance educational outcomes and drive workforce development by integrating artificial intelligence into teaching, learning, and community engagement.

(iii) Application

An eligible applicant seeking to be designated as a Center of AI Excellence shall submit to the Director of the National Science Foundation an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require. Such application shall include the following:

(I)

A description of the focus area or areas for such proposed Center of AI Excellence and how such area or areas are aligned with regional investments made by industry and the Federal Government.

(II)

A description of the capacity of such applicant to carry out the purpose of such proposed Center of AI Excellence.

(III)

A description of current and anticipated future workforce demands in occupations directly related to such proposed Center of AI Excellence.

(IV)

A description of how such applicant will support the collection of information and data for evaluating such proposed Center of AI Excellence.

(V)

Outreach plans for recruiting and enrolling women and other underrepresented populations.

(VI)

An evaluation plan that includes the use of outcome-oriented measures to assess the impact and efficacy of such proposed Center for AI Excellence.

(iv) Activities

A Center of AI Excellence shall develop and disseminate information regarding best practices for matters such as the following:

(I)

Artificial intelligence research and education at community colleges and area career and technical education schools.

(II)

Methods to scale up successful programs that perform research or provide education on artificial intelligence at community colleges and area career and technical education schools.

(III)

Providing educators and teachers with actionable strategies and resources to effectively integrate artificial intelligence into curriculums in the classroom.

(IV)

Providing hands-on research opportunities on artificial intelligence and learning opportunities for students that are enabled through artificial intelligence.

(V)

Identifying pathways for students to jobs that are enabled by artificial intelligence.

(VI)

Facilitating partnerships with employers, employer consortia, or other private sector organizations that offer apprenticeships, internships, cooperative education, or applied learning experiences in the field of artificial intelligence.

(v) Partnerships

The Director of the National Science Foundation shall encourage applicants to consider including or partnering with a nonprofit organization or an institution of higher education (or a consortium thereof) that has extensive experience and expertise in artificial intelligence.

(vi) Accountability and dissemination

(I) Evaluation required

The Director of the National Science Foundation shall evaluate the activities under clause (iv). Such evaluation, to the extent practicable, shall integrate the findings of research resulting from such activity or activities as a result of a designation under clause (ii) with the findings of other research on artificial intelligence education.

(II) Report on evaluation

Not later than 180 days after the completion of the evaluation under subclause (I), the Director of the National Science Foundation shall submit to Congress and make widely available to the public a report that includes the following:

(aa)

The results of such evaluation.

(bb)

Any recommendations for administrative and legislative action that could optimize the effectiveness of the designations under clause (ii).

(a) In general

Section 5401 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9451), as amended by section 631, is further amended—

(1)

in subparagraph (F), by striking and after the semicolon;

(2)

in subparagraph (G), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and

(3)

by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:

(H)

incorporating artificial intelligence skills development into the National STEM Teacher Corps; and

(I)

considering whether to develop artificial intelligence best practices for high school teachers, developed in consultation with other educators and academia.