[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5047 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5047
To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology to establish a working group to facilitate coordination
among relevant stakeholders regarding compound risks relating to
artificial intelligence physical systems, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 21, 2026
Mr. Sheehy (for himself and Mr. Kim) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology to establish a working group to facilitate coordination
among relevant stakeholders regarding compound risks relating to
artificial intelligence physical systems, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Artificial Intelligence Physical
Systems Coordination Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP ON
COMPOUND RISKS RELATING TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
PHYSICAL SYSTEMS.
(a) Establishment.--The Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (in this section referred to as the
``Director'') shall establish a working group (in this section referred
to as the ``Working Group'') to facilitate coordination among relevant
stakeholders regarding effects on the risk landscape arising from
concurrent advances in--
(1) artificial intelligence technologies;
(2) sensor technologies that enable perception and data
collection;
(3) actuator or robotic technologies that enable autonomous
physical action; and
(4) modeling, simulation, and digital twin technologies
that enable the testing, validation, and optimization of
artificial intelligence-enabled physical systems.
(b) Membership.--The Working Group shall include not fewer than 12
and not more than 20 members, appointed by the Director from among the
following:
(1) Industries, including at least 2 from each of the
following, but not more than 6 from any of the following:
(A) Developers of artificial intelligence systems.
(B) Deployers of artificial intelligence systems.
(C) Developers of sensor, robotic, and actuator
technologies.
(D) Manufacturers of sensor, robotic, and actuator
technologies.
(E) Automation and manufacturing technology
providers that integrate artificial intelligence and
robotics.
(2) Faculty of accredited institutions of higher education,
as well as representatives of independent research
organizations with expertise in artificial intelligence,
robotics, physical systems safety, cybersecurity, or security
evaluation.
(3) Civil society organizations with demonstrated technical
or public-interest expertise relevant to artificial
intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity, or physical systems
safety.
(4) Such other stakeholders with demonstrated subject-
matter expertise relevant to the duties of the Working Group,
including stakeholders in cybersecurity or critical
infrastructure security, as the Director considers relevant.
(c) Terms.--
(1) Appointment.--Members of the Working Group shall be
appointed by the Director for terms of not more than 2 years.
(2) Reappointment.--A member may be reappointed at the
discretion of the Director.
(3) Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the Working Group shall not
affect its powers and shall be filled in the same manner as the
original working group.
(d) Duties.--The Working Group shall--
(1) identify and describe, using publicly available
information to the extent practicable, plausible pathways by
which the advances described in subsection (a) may introduce,
alter, reduce, or intensify particular classes of physical
systems safety or security concerns, including risks that may
arise from the combination of model capability and the
availability, affordability, and accessibility of relevant
sensors and actuators;
(2) engage in technical discussions and research for the
development of best practices and recommendations regarding
whether, and under what conditions, analytical tools,
benchmarks, or guidelines would be useful for assessing such
physical safety and security concerns, including--
(A) approaches for collecting, synthesizing, and
presenting publicly available trend data relating to
the factors described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of
subsection (a);
(B) potential evaluation methods or benchmark
concepts for characterizing safety- and security-
related behaviors, emergent behaviors, operational
characteristics, and implications and risks for systems
at the interface of software models and physical
sensors or actuators; and
(C) potential indicators of evolving physical
safety and security concerns that may warrant
heightened attention by policymakers, developers, or
deployers;
(3) identify voluntary best practices, where appropriate,
to support the responsible development and deployment of
artificial intelligence physical systems, including best
practices relating to human-machine collaboration in
operational environments, and in a manner that supports the
identification, assessment, or mitigation of the safety and
security concerns identified in paragraph (1); and
(4) identify opportunities to align the work of the Working
Group with existing voluntary standards development activities
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
(e) Nature of Activities.--Activities under this section--
(1) shall be carried out in a transparent, consultative,
and nonregulatory manner consistent with the mission of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology to advance
innovation and industrial competitiveness;
(2) shall not require the disclosure of proprietary
information, trade secrets, or classified information; and
(3) shall impose no new regulatory obligations on private
entities.
(f) Outputs.--
(1) Initial report.--Not later than 540 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall publish a
report summarizing the activities of the Working Group and any
recommendations developed under subsection (c), including
recommendations, if any, regarding the development of
analytical tools, benchmarks, or guidelines described in
subsection (c)(2).
(2) Updates.--Not less frequently than once every 2 years
after publication of the initial report under paragraph (1),
the Director may publish an updated report reflecting new
stakeholder input, emerging research, and developments relevant
to the concurrent advances described in subsection (a).
(3) Public availability.--Each report published under this
subsection shall be made publicly available in written and
digital formats and may include data visualizations or other
resources useful to policymakers, researchers, and industry
participants.
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