Sponsors (8)
The bill funds a federal Center and confidential, voluntary evaluation pathways to boost AI safety, innovation, and U.S. competitiveness, but does so while limiting public transparency and regulatory authority and providing time-limited funding that may be inadequate for long-term oversight.
Researchers, developers, and tech workers gain a federally supported Center that coordinates measurement of AI risks, develops standards and benchmarks, and promotes U.S. leadership and international collaboration (excluding foreign adversaries), improving AI safety and innovation capacity.
Companies (including small businesses) and tech teams get voluntary evaluation pathways plus confidentiality protections that make it easier to share sensitive model details with the Center without forced public disclosure, encouraging participation in safety testing.
Taxpayers and federal stakeholders receive formal annual reporting and dedicated funding ($20M/year for FY2027–2032) to support AI security activities and provide transparency on the Center's budgets and priorities.
The Center is explicitly given no regulatory or enforcement authority and the arrangement protects participating firms from government regulation based on shared information, reducing government's ability to curb risky AI deployments.
Information shared with the Center is exempt from FOIA and cannot be used by governments to regulate covered entities, shrinking public transparency and independent oversight of AI safety work.
The allocated funding level ($20M/year) and a five-year sunset risk being insufficient for sustained, large-scale AI security programs, creating instability for staff, long-term projects, and retention of expertise.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Updates AI-related statutory definitions and creates a NIST Center to assess AI risks, enable information-sharing, and support U.S. AI research and evaluation.
Official title: To amend the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 to establish a center on artificial intelligence to ensure continued United States leadership in research, development, and evaluation of artificial intelligence systems, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 18, 2026 by Jay Obernolte · Last progress June 18, 2026
Creates a Center for AI Security and Innovation at NIST, updates definitions in the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act to clarify terms like "artificial intelligence model," "artificial intelligence system," "foreign adversary," and "intelligence community," and authorizes activities to measure AI risks, promote information sharing, and advance U.S. leadership in AI R&D and evaluation. The bill sets short deadlines for establishing the center and appointing a qualified Director and allows the Commerce Department to study feasibility questions related to transferring certain functions. The Center's duties include assessing national- and economic-security risks from AI, facilitating information exchange between private sector and federal agencies to mitigate those risks, and supporting research, development, and evaluation efforts. The amendments are largely definitional and organizational rather than creating broad new regulatory regimes or appropriations in the text provided.