Today, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee passed the bipartisan Future of AI Innovation Act to maintain United States leadership in the global race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. Led by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of the Committee, Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), the bill promotes strong partnerships between government, business, civil society and academia to advance AI research. It authorizes the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute (AISI) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and creates testbeds with national labs to accelerate groundbreaking AI innovation that will spur future economic growth and protect national security.

“The Cantwell-Young Future of AI Innovation Act builds on recommendations of the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee to encourage strong public-private collaboration, drive innovation and support U.S. competitiveness,” said Sen. Cantwell. “It codifies the AI Safety Institute at NIST that is already developing voluntary guidelines and tests for advanced AI models and systems, and will gather leading private sector and government experts to promote voluntary standards.  Our bill will also create joint testbeds with our national laboratories to assess the most complex AI models, create new materials for advanced manufacturing and make new scientific discoveries for the benefit of the U.S. economy.”

“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 today’s vote represents an important step forward in that effort,” said Sen. Young.

“Artificial intelligence has enormous potential, but it’s up to us to make sure it’s harnessed for responsible innovation,” said Sen. 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 Sen. 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.”

“AI and other emerging technologies present strong opportunities for American innovation, growth, and security – we’re working to strengthen partnerships between government, businesses, and universities to tackle the challenges of the future,” said Sen. Sinema.

On Monday, more than 45 leading tech organizations, companies and AI safety policy advocates from across the AI community urged the passage of the legislation that would codify the U.S. AI Safety Institute at NIST. View more supporters of the bill here.

The Future of AI Innovation Act: View bill text and amendments here.

• Authorizes the NIST AI Safety Institute to Develop AI Standards: Formally establishes the AI Safety Institute at NIST to develop measurement science, voluntary guidelines and rigorous testing for advanced AI models and systems to ensure AI reliability.
• 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 do in-depth evaluation of the most complex AI models, to create new materials for advanced manufacturing.
• 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. 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 Innovation and Standards: Directs the Department of Commerce, NSF and Department of State to seek an alliance with the most technologically advanced like-minded democracies to cooperate on AI innovation and standards.

The Committee also passed legislation led by Sen. Cantwell and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), the bipartisan NSF AI Education Act to expand educational opportunities to study AI and quantum across all education levels with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the bipartisan Small Business Artificial Intelligence Training Act to create AI resources to help small businesses leverage AI in their operations with support from the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration.