[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5050 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5050
To support an interdisciplinary research community for the advancement
of artificial intelligence and AI-powered innovation through
partnerships and capacity building at certain institutions of higher
education and other institutions, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 21, 2026
Ms. Blunt Rochester (for herself and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support an interdisciplinary research community for the advancement
of artificial intelligence and AI-powered innovation through
partnerships and capacity building at certain institutions of higher
education and other institutions, 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 ``Expanding AI Voices through Capacity
Building Act'' or the ``Expanding AI Voices Act''.
SEC. 2. EXPANDING CAPACITY IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SCIENCE.
Section 5401 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9451) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new
subsection:
``(g) Expanding Capacity in Artificial Intelligence.--
``(1) In general.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation, in consultation with the heads of Federal agencies
the Director considers appropriate, shall make awards, on a
competitive, merit-reviewed basis, to eligible entities to
broaden participation in artificial intelligence research,
education, and workforce development by strengthening the
ability of the United States to increase capacity and
partnerships for artificial intelligence research and
development.
``(2) Collaboration.--In carrying out activities under this
subsection, a grant recipient may collaborate with--
``(A) institutions of higher education, nonprofit
organizations, Federal agencies, State, local, Tribal,
and territorial governments, and private sector
entities; and
``(B) artificial intelligence research institutes
established under section 5201 or recipients of other
relevant awards made by the Foundation.
``(3) Use of funds.--An eligible entity shall use grant
funds under this subsection to carry out one or more of the
following:
``(A) Development or expansion of research programs
in artificial intelligence and related disciplines.
``(B) Faculty recruitment and professional
development in artificial intelligence and related
disciplines.
``(C) Bridge programs focused on preparing post-
baccalaureate students for graduate programs in
artificial intelligence and related disciplines.
``(D) Providing or brokering access to research
resources, including computing resources, networking,
data facilities, and software engineering support for
artificial intelligence research and development.
``(E) Workshops and listening sessions to foster
mutually beneficial public-private collaboration with
Federal research agencies, industry, Federal
laboratories, academia, and nonprofit organizations.
``(F) Development and hosting of intra- or inter-
institutional workshops to broaden workforce
participation in artificial intelligence research and
development.
``(G) Activities to integrate safe, secure, and
reliable practices and principles into education
programs in artificial intelligence and related
disciplines.
``(H) Other activities necessary to build research
capacity, education pathways, and workforce development
pathways in artificial intelligence and related
disciplines.
``(4) Outreach.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation shall--
``(A) conduct outreach to eligible institutions of
higher education and nonprofit organizations to support
application for awards under this subsection; and
``(B) engage participants from all regions of the
United States, including eligible institutions with
limited artificial intelligence research capacity, to
support broad participation in artificial intelligence
research, education, and workforce development.
``(5) Duplication.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation shall ensure that awards made under this subsection
are complimentary to, and not duplicative of, awards made under
existing programs.
``(6) Additional considerations.--In making awards under
this subsection, the Director of the National Science
Foundation may also consider the following:
``(A) The extent to which eligible institutions of
higher education and nonprofit organizations applying
for awards under this subsection expand opportunities
for students to participate in artificial intelligence
research, education, and workforce development,
including first-generation undergraduate students.
``(B) The geographic diversity of such institutions
and organizations.
``(C) Relative resource constraints of such
institutions and organizations.
``(7) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity'
means--
``(i) an eligible institution of higher
education, or a consortium of such
institutions; or
``(ii) a consortium that is led by an
eligible institution of higher education and
includes one or more nonprofit organizations.
``(B) Eligible institution of higher education.--
The term `eligible institution of higher education'
means any of the following:
``(i) An institution of higher education,
that, according to the data published by the
National Center for Science and Engineering
Statistics, is not, on average, among the top
100 institutions in Federal research and
development expenditures during the 3-year
period prior to the year of the award
concerned.
``(ii) A minority-serving institution,
including a historically Black college or
university and a Tribal College or University.
``(C) Historically black college or university.--
The term `historically Black college or university' has
the meaning given the term `part B institution' in
section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1061).
``(D) Minority-serving institution.--The term
`minority-serving institution' means an eligible
institution under section 371(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)).
``(E) Nonprofit organization.--The term `nonprofit
organization' means an organization which is described
in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such
code.
``(F) Tribal college or university.--The term
`Tribal College or University' has the meaning given
such term in section 316 of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c).''.
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