WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) today reintroduced the bipartisan Future of AI Innovation Act, which lays the foundation to maintain U.S. leadership in the global race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. The legislation promotes strong partnerships between government, business, civil society and academia to advance AI research. It authorizes the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to promote the development of voluntary standards and creates testbeds with national labs to accelerate groundbreaking AI innovation for the benefit of future economic growth and national security.

“This legislation brings together private sector and government experts to develop voluntary standards for AI, create new assessment tools, and conduct testing that will ensure the United States leads in AI-driven innovation and competitiveness for decades to come,” said Sen. Cantwell. “The NIST Center for AI Standards and Innovation, testbeds at our national labs, and grand challenge prizes will accelerate new advancements while helping companies and consumers better use AI in a safe and secure manner.”

“One of my top priorities for federal AI policy is to ensure these technologies are developed in a manner that reflects American values and supports U.S. innovation,” said Sen. Young. “I’m glad to introduce the Future of AI Innovation Act to maintain American leadership in the global race to advance AI.”

As foreign adversaries and competitors invest heavily in AI, it’s critical the U.S. maintains leadership and this bill builds on CHIPS and Science Act investments to support key private sector innovation in AI. This legislation builds upon Sens. Cantwell and Young’s original FUTURE of AI Act, which created the National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC), a committee of outside experts who make recommendations to the government on AI. Provisions in the Future of AI Innovation Act were drafted based on recommendations from NAIAC reports.

The Future of AI Innovation Act:

1. Authorizes the NIST AI Safety Institute to Develop AI Standards: Formally establishes the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) at NIST to develop voluntary guidelines and standards with the private sector and federal agencies to promote robust long-term innovation in AI. The Institute will develop performance benchmarks, evaluations and clear transparency documentation standards for AI systems, while helping companies and consumers better understand and use AI tools.
2. Creates New AI Testbeds with National Laboratories to Evaluate AI Models and Make Discoveries that Benefit the U.S. Economy: Creates testbed programs between NIST, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) and the private sector to develop security risk tools and testing environments for companies to evaluate their systems for capabilities and limitations. This bill also authorizes public-private partnership testbeds to create new materials for advanced manufacturing and to make new scientific discoveries by using AI integrated with emerging technologies.
3. Creates Grand Challenge Prize Competitions to Spur Private Sector AI Solutions and Innovation: Grand challenges elevate and expedite high-priority projects and engage researchers across the country for the benefit of the nation’s competitiveness. The grand challenges would prioritize finding AI solutions through the integration of advanced AI technology and emerging technologies like quantum computing. Grand challenges are aimed at overcoming barriers to the further development of AI and computing, microelectronics, advanced manufacturing, and other economic priorities like breakthroughs in maritime vessel propulsion systems and border security, including fentanyl and illegal drug detection.
4. Accelerates AI Innovation with Publicly Available Datasets: Directs federal science agencies to make curated datasets available for public use to accelerate new advancements in AI applications, including solutions to global challenges in agriculture, medicine, transportation, manufacturing and more. Unlocking datasets will help make discoveries in AI and benefit small and medium businesses that often don't have access to as much data.
5. Creates International Alliances on AI Standards, Research and Development: Forms a coalition with U.S. allies to cooperate on global standards and creates a multilateral research collaboration between scientific and academic institutions across the world to spur AI research and innovation. This collaboration is based on a NAIAC recommendation. 

"The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) applauds Senators Young and Cantwell for introducing the Future of AI Innovation Act (FAIIA). Ensuring the United States remains a leader in AI requires not only the investment of industry and the engagement of academia, but also the singular convening power of the U.S. government. To ensure the United States remains a global leader in AI, we must empower NIST and its subagency, the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI). NIST is uniquely positioned to develop the guidance and benchmarks necessary for AI development, utilizing specialized expertise to assess national security risks. While NIST’s influence internationally is unmatched, it currently lacks the resourcing of peers like the UK AI Security Institute, which has 10x more staff and 10x more funding. This legislation provides needed authorities for CAISI, which has already broken ground collaborating across industry, civil society, and academia through the NIST AI Consortium, of which SIIA is a proud member. We urge the Senate to move swiftly on this bill and look forward to working with Congress to realize the vision of its sponsors.” – Paul Lekas, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Public Policy & Government Affairs, Software & Information Industry Association

"We are pleased to see the bipartisan reintroduction of the Future of AI Innovation Act. This legislation remains a critical framework for steering AI toward positive outcomes by fostering groundbreaking research, unlocking public data, and establishing the voluntary standards and safety mechanisms necessary for American leadership in AI. We previously supported this bill for its proactive approach to innovation, and we urge Congress to move swiftly to pass it this session to ensure a transformative and competitive future for AI in the United States." – Hodan Omaar, Senior Policy Manager, Center for Data Innovation, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

"American leadership in AI means nothing if the models we develop can't be trusted. The Future of Artificial Intelligence Innovation Act builds the governance architecture to ensure they can be, by codifying federal standards and testing infrastructure, standing up a cross-sector consortium around AI safety best practices, strengthening research security, creating international alliances around AI standards and R&D, and drawing a clear line against influence by foreign adversaries. We urge Congress to pass this bill and follow it up with legislation that addresses AI's full impact on American workers and families." - Brendan Steinhauser, CEO, The Alliance for Secure AI

“The Future of Artificial Intelligence Innovation Act strengthens the partnerships needed to power American innovation and will help ensure the United States remains at the forefront of the global AI race. By deepening collaboration among government, industry, academia, and civil society—and supporting NIST-led standards and national lab testbeds—the bill creates the conditions for breakthrough AI research and sustained U.S. leadership.” - Brad Carson, President, Americans for Responsible Innovation

"The Future of AI Innovation Act recognizes a critical fact: the foundation of American AI leadership is institutional, not just industrial. Authorizing the Center for Artificial Intelligence Standards and Innovation at NIST, standing up joint testbeds across NIST, NSF, and the Department of Energy with private sector partners, and launching grand challenges for AI in science and advanced manufacturing — this is the kind of connective tissue between government, industry, and the research community that we need, and it will compound over decades. We commend Senators Young and Cantwell for their continued leadership on this bill and look forward to seeing it across the finish line" – Austin Carson, Founder and CEO, SeedAI

"The Future of Artificial Intelligence Innovation Act (FAIIA) gets the federal role in AI policy exactly right. Authorizing the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) is key to maintaining the United States' leadership in Artificial Intelligence. As the federal government's core in-house capacity for measuring and evaluating frontier AI systems, CAISI serves as both a catalyst for driving the adoption of new AI tools and applications and a beacon for exporting U.S. standards around the world. Importantly, the FAIIA aligns CAISI and other federal agencies' missions to the White House's AI Action Plan and Genesis Mission, including through new AI test beds at the National Labs, Grand Challenges to spur private sector innovation, and the creation of public datasets to democratize scientific discovery. While AI policy is often hotly debated, the FAIIA underscores the many critical areas of clear, bipartisan and cross-government consensus." - Samuel Hammond, Chief Economist, Foundation for American Innovation

The full bill text is HERE.

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