Cantwell, Young, Hickenlooper, Blackburn Introduce Bill to Ensure U.S. Leads Global AI Innovation
April 18, 2024
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), members of the Commerce Committee, today introduced 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 U.S. AI Safety Institute 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.
“Our bill ensures the United States will lead on AI for decades to come. It promotes public-private collaboration to drive innovation and competitiveness. The NIST AI Safety Institute, testbeds at our national labs, and the grand challenge prizes will bring together private sector and government experts to develop standards, create new assessment tools, and overcome existing barriers. It will lay a strong foundation for America’s evolving AI tech economy for years to come,” said Senator Maria Cantwell.
“The Future of AI Innovation Act is critical to maintaining American leadership in the global race to advance AI. This bipartisan bill will create important partnerships between government, the private sector, and academia to establish voluntary standards and best practices that will ensure a fertile environment for AI innovation while accounting for potential risks. One of my top priorities for federal AI policy is to ensure these technologies are developed in a manner that reflects our democratic values and supports innovation continuing to flourish in the United States, and this bill represents an important step forward in that effort,” said Senator Todd Young.
“Artificial intelligence has enormous potential, but it’s up to us to make sure it’s harnessed for responsible innovation,” said Senator Hickenlooper. “Our bipartisan Future of AI Innovation Act empowers the U.S. AI Safety Institute to develop the research, standards, and partnerships we need without compromising our position at the forefront of this technology.”
“The Future of AI Innovation Act encourages coordination between the U.S. government and industry to capitalize on the promise of AI to revolutionize our lives,” said Senator Blackburn. “The bill mobilizes the expertise of our National Laboratories, like Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to create testbeds for synthesizing new materials for AI systems. It would also require the identification of regulatory barriers to AI innovation and strengthens our national posture in standard setting bodies – making sure the government helps, rather than hinders, technological advancement. These policies will help us use AI to find solutions for important issues facing Americans today, including detecting fentanyl and illicit contraband and improving border security.”
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:
- Authorizes the NIST AI Safety Institute to Develop AI Standards: Formally establishes the AI Safety Institute 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.
- 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 testbeds to make new scientific discoveries by using AI integrated with emerging technologies, such as quantum hybrid computing and robotics.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
IBM
“IBM applauds U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell, Todd Young, Marsha Blackburn, and John Hickenlooper for introducing the bipartisan Future of AI Innovation Act. This bill’s approach to standards development, testbeds, and international collaboration can help ensure the United States continues to lead the world in AI and utilize our national labs to promote economic growth. We must continue to foster strong public-private partnerships to advance AI research.” — Christopher Padilla, Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs, IBM.
Google
“Google is pleased to support Senator Cantwell, Senator Young, Senator Hickenlooper, and Senator Blackburn’s Future of AI Innovation Act to promote US global leadership in AI.”
Software & Information Industry Association
“We applaud Senators Cantwell, Young, Hickenlooper and Blackburn for introducing the Future of AI Innovation Act (the FAIIA). Ensuring the United States remains a leader in AI and harnesses the potential this technology can offer requires not only the ingenuity and investment of industry and the engagement of academia, but also the singular convening power of the U.S. government. The FAIIA would provide the federal government with the tools necessary to create the infrastructure needed to ensure U.S. leadership in AI and promote innovation to address the greatest challenges of our communities and the nation in alignment with democratic values including safety, security and responsibility. It would do this by providing needed authorities for the NIST AI Safety Institute, which has already broken ground and begun working across industry, civil society, and academia through the AI Safety Institute Consortium, of which SIIA is a proud member. The Act would also create AI testbeds, promote cooperation across the federal science agencies, advance international collaboration in standards and research, and tap into the ingenuity of the American public through curated public datasets and grand challenges. These programs will create pathways for new public-private partnerships and accelerate AI innovation. In addition, the FAIIA recognizes the need for international collaboration to ensure the future of AI is one that comports with U.S. values. This requires close engagement with allies and partners, and the FAIIA would bolster these efforts with new authorities to advance international standards and bilateral and multilateral AI research collaboration. We urge the Senate to move swiftly on this urgent bill and look forward to working with Congress to realize the vision of its sponsors.” — Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy & Government Affairs, SIIA.
Information Technology Industry Council
“AI’s transformative impact means the U.S. must maintain its leadership in AI innovation, and today’s AI roadmap is an important step. We applaud U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and U.S. Senators Young, Rounds, and Heinrich for their robust AI engagement with industry, civil society, and academia. ITI was pleased to represent the tech industry during the AI Insight Forums to help educate Senators on how AI will advance economic and societal growth. Importantly, the framework urges lawmakers to pass the bipartisan and bicameral CREATE AI Act, which will authorize the National AI Research Resource to serve as an incubator for cutting-edge AI research and boost the entire AI ecosystem. It also includes strategic investments in AI research and development that will advance innovation, and uplevel U.S. leadership while promoting AI safety and transparency. ITI looks forward to advancing our bipartisan collaboration with Members of Congress.” — Jason Oxman, President and CEO, ITI.
Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
“The Future of AI Innovation Act is a refreshing example of how policymakers can and should steer AI toward positive outcomes. The bill doesn’t just dangle a carrot of progress, it paves a path forward for achieving it. The Act positions the United States to uncover new groundbreaking research and use AI to solve grand challenges. It unlocks valuable public data needed to fuel AI innovation, it sets up safety mechanisms to better understand what AI systems should and shouldn’t be used for, and it fosters international collaboration to catalyze advancements that benefit society as a whole. Congress should swiftly pass this bill to ensure a transformative future for AI innovation.” — Hodan Omaar, Senior Policy Manager, ITIF.
ITIF Center for Data Innovation
“On behalf of the Center for Data Innovation, we are writing to express our support for the “The Future of AI Innovation Act.” This legislation lays out a proactive agenda to foster responsible AI development and deployment in the United States. Notably, the bill would formally establish the AI Safety Institute, create AI testbeds to evaluate AI models, establish challenges to spur technological advancements, increase the availability of public data, and promote international cooperation on standards, research, and development.” — Daniel Castro, Director; Hodan Omaar, Senior Policy Manager, ITIF Center for Data Innovation.
R Street Institute
“The legislation responds to longstanding calls from researchers by incorporating key cybersecurity recommendations, such as the development of international standards, metrics, and AI testbeds; increased collaboration between the public-private sector and governments both domestically and abroad; and enhanced information sharing to drive secure AI research and development…The Future of AI Innovation Act is a commendable step toward promoting secure AI development and cross-sector collaboration in the United States… If implemented correctly, this bill has the potential to both improve the AI advancement ecosystem and support the development of standards that improve AI cybersecurity and minimize risks associated with responsible AI failures and AI infrastructure security vulnerabilities.” — Amy Chang, Resident Senior Fellow for Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats, R Street Institute.
D-Wave, the Quantum Computing Company
“We applaud U.S. Senators for introducing the Future of AI Innovation Act, directing NIST, Department of Energy and NSF to examine how AI & other emerging tech like quantum computing can work together to support new material design & drug discovery.” — Alan Baratz, CEO, D-Wave.
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
“We applaud Senator Cantwell, Senator Young, Senator Hickenlooper, and Senator Blackburn for including biosecurity provisions to ensure that AI develops safely in their bipartisan Future of AI Innovation Act!”
