TEST AI Act of 2025

This bill sets up a national effort to test and grade how well AI systems work, especially those used by federal agencies. The National Institute of Standards and Technology would run a pilot program with the Department of Energy to build “testbeds” — controlled places to safely try out AI and measure things like reliability, privacy, security, and bias. A small working group from government, universities, and industry would guide what to measure and how, and the plan would be posted publicly so developers and researchers can use it too . The goal is AI that is safer, more fair, and more trustworthy in services that affect people’s daily lives, like benefits processing, health, or transportation .

Key timelines and impacts:

• Within 180 days of the law taking effect, Commerce and Energy must formalize how they’ll work together, and review that agreement every two years .
• Within 90 days after that, a 10-member working group is formed; no members can be citizens of certain foreign countries. Within one year, it must publish a strategy that covers measures for reliability, performance, security (including data leaks), privacy, bias, and when an AI should or shouldn’t be used .
• Within two years, NIST and Energy develop the testbeds and can bring in outside experts. After the first testbed demo, NIST reports findings and recommendations within 180 days .

Overall, this creates clear rules of the road for testing AI used by the government, aiming to reduce errors and bias, protect privacy, and improve performance before these tools are used in ways that affect people’s lives .