[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4951-S4954]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2616. Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Young, Mr.
Booker, and Mr. Rounds) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of title X, add the following:
Subtitle I--National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource
SEC. 1096. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ``Creating Resources for
Every American To Experiment with Artificial Intelligence Act
of 2024'' or the ``CREATE AI Act of 2024''.
SEC. 1097. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Cutting-edge artificial intelligence research relies on
access to computational resources and large datasets.
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(2) Access to the computational resources and datasets
necessary for artificial intelligence research and
development is often limited to very large technology
companies.
(3) The lack of access to computational and data resources
has resulted in insufficient diversity in the artificial
intelligence research and development community.
(4) Engaging the full and diverse talent of the United
States is critical for maintaining United States leadership
in artificial intelligence and ensuring that artificial
intelligence is developed in a manner that benefits all
people of the United States.
(5) The National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource
Task Force, authorized under section 5106 of the National
Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C.
9401 et seq.), recommended the establishment of a National
Artificial Intelligence Research Resource in a report
entitled ``Strengthening and Democratizing the U.S.
Artificial Intelligence Innovation Ecosystem: An
Implementation Plan for a National Artificial Intelligence
Research Resource'', issued on January 24, 2023.
SEC. 1098. NATIONAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH
RESOURCE.
(a) In General.--The National Artificial Intelligence
Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``TITLE LVI--NATIONAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH RESOURCE
``Sec. 5601. Definitions.
``Sec. 5602. Establishment; governance.
``Sec. 5603. Resources of the NAIRR.
``Sec. 5604. NAIRR processes and procedures.
``SEC. 5601. DEFINITIONS.
``In this title:
``(1) Advisory committee.--The term `Advisory Committee'
means any Advisory Committee established under section
5602(c).
``(2) AI testbed.--The term `AI testbed' means a testbed
described in section 22A(g) of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h-1(g)).
``(3) Executive agency.--The term `Executive agency' has
the meaning given such term in section 105 of title 5, United
States Code.
``(4) National artificial intelligence research resource;
nairr.--The terms `National Artificial Intelligence Research
Resource' and `NAIRR' have the meaning given the term
`National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource' in
section 5106(g).
``(5) Operating entity.--The term `Operating Entity' means
the Operating Entity selected by the Program Management
Office as described in section 5602(b)(3)(A).
``(6) Program management office.--The term `Program
Management Office' means the Program Management Office
established under section 5602(b).
``(7) Resource of the nairr.--The term `resource of the
NAIRR' means a resource described in section 5603(b).
``(8) Select committee on ai.--The term `Select Committee
on AI' means the Interagency Committee.
``(9) STEM.--The term `STEM' means science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics, including computer science.
``SEC. 5602. ESTABLISHMENT; GOVERNANCE.
``(a) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of the Creating Resources for Every American To
Experiment with Artificial Intelligence Act of 2024, the
Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish
the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource to--
``(1) spur innovation and advance artificial intelligence
research and development;
``(2) advance the development of trustworthy artificial
intelligence;
``(3) improve access to artificial intelligence resources
for researchers and students of artificial intelligence,
including groups historically underrepresented in STEM;
``(4) improve capacity for artificial intelligence research
in the United States; and
``(5) support the testing, benchmarking, and evaluation of
artificial intelligence systems developed and deployed in the
United States.
``(b) Program Management Office.--
``(1) Establishment.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation shall establish within the National Science
Foundation a Program Management Office to oversee the day-to-
day functions of the NAIRR and shall appoint an individual to
head the Program Management Office.
``(2) Staff.--
``(A) In general.--The head of the Program Management
Office may identify staff and direct all employees of the
Program Management Office, in accordance with the applicable
provisions of title 5, United States Code.
``(B) Representation.--The staff of the Program Management
Office may include representation from other Executive
agencies providing support for NAIRR resources.
``(3) Duties.--The duties of the Program Management Office
shall include--
``(A) in consultation with any relevant Advisory Committee
as appropriate--
``(i) overseeing and approving the operating plan for the
NAIRR;
``(ii) developing the budget for the NAIRR, in consultation
with any relevant Executive agency or office represented on
the Select Committee on AI;
``(iii) developing the funding opportunity and soliciting
bids for the Operating Entity, which will be responsible for
operation of the National Artificial Intelligence Research
Resource;
``(iv) selecting, through a competitive and transparent
process, a nongovernmental organization, which may be an
independent legal entity or a consortium of 1 or more
partners (which may include federally funded research and
development centers), to be designated the Operating Entity;
``(v) overseeing compliance with the contractual
obligations of the Operating Entity;
``(vi) establishing evaluation criteria, including key
performance indicators, for the NAIRR;
``(vii) overseeing asset allocation and utilization;
``(viii) identifying an external independent evaluation
entity;
``(ix) assessing the performance of the Operating Entity on
not less than an annual basis and, if such performance is
unsatisfactory, ending the agreement with such Operating
Entity and selecting a new Operating Entity in accordance
with clause (iv);
``(x) developing funding opportunities for resources of the
NAIRR, in consultation with relevant Executive agencies or
offices represented on the Select Committee on AI; and
``(xi) coordinating resource contributions from
participating Federal agencies;
``(B) delegating, with appropriate oversight, operational
tasks to the Operating Entity, including--
``(i) coordinating the provisioning of resources of the
NAIRR;
``(ii) maintaining a portal and associated services for
users to access resources of the NAIRR;
``(iii) developing policies and procedures for the NAIRR;
``(iv) hiring and managing a staff (including experts in
cyber infrastructure management, data science, research
design, privacy, ethics, civil rights and civil liberties,
and legal and policy matters) to support the operations of
the NAIRR;
``(v) continually modernizing NAIRR infrastructure;
``(vi) annually reviewing and cataloging the performance of
the NAIRR (including performance on the key performance
indicators established under subparagraph (A)(vi)), the
resources of the NAIRR, and the NAIRR governance structure;
``(vii) establishing and administering training to new
users on accessing a resource of the NAIRR, research design,
and issues related to privacy, ethics, civil rights and civil
liberties, safety, and trustworthiness of artificial
intelligence systems;
``(viii) facilitating connections to AI testbeds; and
``(ix) making educational resources of the NAIRR available
to other Executive agencies, and to Congress and agencies in
the legislative and judicial branches, for the purpose of
educating Federal Government officials and employees about
artificial intelligence;
``(C) developing an annual report, transmitted to the
Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate, and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
of the House of Representatives and made available to the
public, on the progress of the NAIRR that includes--
``(i) a summary of the information collected under
subparagraph (B)(vi);
``(ii) a list of projects that used the NAIRR during the
reporting period, including, as appropriate, relevant details
about the projects that demonstrate the value to the public
provided by the projects; and
``(iii) any recommendations for changes to the NAIRR; and
``(D) overseeing a periodic independent assessment of the
NAIRR.
``(c) Advisory Committees.--
``(1) Establishment.--The head of the Program Management
Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity,
shall establish Advisory Committees to provide advice to the
Operating Entity and the Program Management Office. Any such
Advisory Committees shall be comprised of members from
government agencies, the private sector, academia, and public
interest groups.
``(2) Determination regarding applicability of faca.--The
Director of the National Science Foundation may determine
that the requirements of chapter 10 of title 5, United States
Code, shall not apply with respect to a specific Advisory
Committee established under paragraph (1).
``(d) Provision of Resources of the NAIRR.--Each Executive
agency or office represented on the Select Committee on AI is
authorized to provide the Operating Entity with resources of
the NAIRR or funding for resources of the NAIRR.
``SEC. 5603. RESOURCES OF THE NAIRR.
``(a) In General.--The head of the Program Management
Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity
and in consultation with relevant Executive agencies and
offices represented on the Select Committee on AI and any
relevant Advisory Committee, shall--
``(1) coordinate and provision resources of the NAIRR;
``(2) establish processes to manage the procurement of new
resources of the NAIRR, and intake of in-kind contribution of
resources of the NAIRR, from Executive agencies or other
entities;
``(3) establish policies on and review resources of the
NAIRR for concerns related to ethics, privacy, civil rights,
and civil liberties;
``(4) retire resources of the NAIRR no longer available or
needed; and
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``(5) publicly report a summary of categories of available
resources of the NAIRR, categories of sources of such
resources of the NAIRR, and issues related to resources of
the NAIRR.
``(b) Resources of the NAIRR.--The NAIRR shall offer
resources that include, at a minimum, all of the following,
subject to the availability of appropriations:
``(1) A mix of computational resources that--
``(A) shall include--
``(i) on-premises, cloud-based, hybrid, and emergent
resources;
``(ii) public cloud providers providing access to popular
computational and storage services for NAIRR users;
``(iii) a secure unclassified computing environment for
projects involving sensitive applications involving
personally identifiable information, health data, or other
sensitive or high-risk data;
``(iv) an open source software environment for the NAIRR;
and
``(v) an application programming interface providing
structured access to artificial intelligence models; and
``(B) may include a classified computing environment for
national security applications.
``(2) Data, including by--
``(A)(i) in coordination with the National Institute of
Standards and Technology and consistent with the guidance of
the National Science and Technology Council titled `Desirable
Characteristics of Data Repositories for Federally Funded
Data,' dated May 2022, or any successor document, publishing
interoperability standards for data repositories based on the
data sharing and documentation standards and guidelines
produced under section 22A of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h-1); and
``(ii) selecting and developing, through a competitive
bidding process, data repositories to be available to NAIRR
users;
``(B) establishing acceptable criteria for datasets used as
resources of the NAIRR;
``(C) identifying and providing access to existing curated
datasets of value and interest to the NAIRR user community;
``(D) establishing an artificial intelligence open data
commons to facilitate community sharing and curation of data,
code, and models; and
``(E) coordinating with the Interagency Council on
Statistical Policy to explore options to make Federal
statistical data available to NAIRR users, including through
the standard application process established under section
3583(a) of title 44, United States Code.
``(3) Educational tools and services, including by--
``(A) facilitating and curating educational and training
materials;
``(B) providing technical training and user support; and
``(C) providing outreach and programming for groups
historically underrepresented in STEM.
``(4) AI testbeds and high-performance computing testbeds,
including by--
``(A) in coordination with the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, facilitating access to artificial
intelligence testbeds through which researchers can measure,
benchmark, test, or evaluate engineering or algorithmic
developments;
``(B) developing a comprehensive catalog of open AI
testbeds; and
``(C) in coordination with the Department of Energy, and
subject to the availability of appropriations, providing
access to 1 or more secure testbeds for data, models, tools,
and applications related to the reliability, resilience, and
security of the electrical grid, with applications including
energy forecasting and provisioning (in real time or near-
real time, such as at an hourly or higher frequency), long-
term reliability planning, and other areas of power systems
analysis.
``SEC. 5604. NAIRR PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES.
``(a) User Eligibility.--
``(1) Eligible users.--Subject to paragraph (3), the
following users shall be eligible for access to the NAIRR:
``(A) A researcher, educator, or student based in the
United States that is affiliated with an entity described in
paragraph (2).
``(B) An employee of an entity described in clause (iii) or
(iv) of paragraph (2)(B) with a demonstrable mission-need.
``(2) Entities described.--An entity described in this
paragraph is an entity that--
``(A) is based in the United States; and
``(B) is one of the following:
``(i) An institution of higher education.
``(ii) A nonprofit institution (as such term is defined in
section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act
of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703)).
``(iii) An Executive agency, Congress, an agency of the
legislative branch, or an agency of the judicial branch.
``(iv) A federally funded research and development center.
``(v) A small business concern (as such term is defined in
section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632),
notwithstanding section 121.103 of title 13, Code of Federal
Regulations) that has received funding from an Executive
agency, including through the Small Business Innovation
Research Program or the Small Business Technology Transfer
Program (as described in section 9 of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 638)).
``(vi) A category of entity that the Director of the
National Science Foundation and the Director of the Office of
Science and Technology Policy determine shall be eligible.
``(vii) A consortium composed of entities described in
clauses (i) through (vi).
``(3) Excluded entities.--
``(A) In general.--No individual is authorized to be an
eligible user under paragraph (1) if the individual is
employed by a foreign country that is listed in section
4872(d)(2) of title 10, United States Code, or is otherwise
authorized by such country to act for or on its behalf.
``(B) Enforcement.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation shall ensure that individuals authorized as
eligible users meet the requirements of subparagraph (A).
``(4) User access selection.--The head of the Program
Management Office, acting through the Director of the
Operating Entity, shall establish an application process for
eligible users to request access to the NAIRR.
``(b) Privacy, Ethics, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties,
Safety, and Trustworthiness.--
``(1) In general.--
``(A) Requirements.--The head of the Program Management
Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity
and in consultation with any relevant Advisory Committee,
shall establish requirements, a review process for
applications, and a process for auditing resources of the
NAIRR and research conducted using resources of the NAIRR on
matters related to privacy, ethics, civil rights and civil
liberties, safety, security, and trustworthiness of
artificial intelligence systems developed using resources of
the NAIRR.
``(B) Federal statistical data.--Any auditing process
required under subparagraph (A) for Federal statistical data
included in a resource of the NAIRR shall be completed by the
head of a designated statistical agency (as defined in
section 3576(e) of title 44, United States Code), in
coordination with the Chief Statistician of the United
States, consistent with relevant law.
``(2) Consistency.--The head of the Program Management
Office shall ensure the requirements and processes described
in paragraph (1) are consistent with the policies of the
Office of Management and Budget policy and relevant policies
of other Executive agencies. The head of the Program
Management Office shall coordinate with the Senior Agency
Official for Privacy and the General Counsel of the National
Science Foundation in ensuring compliance with applicable
privacy law and policy and Federal laws and regulations.
``(3) Availability.--The head of the Program Management
Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity,
shall--
``(A) when determining access to computational resources of
the NAIRR, take into consideration the extent to which the
access relates to privacy, ethics, civil rights and civil
liberties, safety, security, risk mitigation, and
trustworthiness of artificial intelligence systems, or other
topics that demonstrate that a project is in the public
interest;
``(B) ensure that a significant percentage of the annual
allotment of computational resources of the NAIRR is provided
to projects whose primary focus is related to any of the
topics described in subparagraph (A); and
``(C) to the extent that demand for access to computational
resources of the NAIRR exceeds availability, consider, on a
priority basis, projects focusing on any of the topics
described in subparagraph (A) when ranking applications for
such access.
``(c) Scientific Research Misconduct.--The head of the
Program Management Office, acting through the Director of the
Operating Entity and in consultation with any relevant
Advisory Committee, shall develop mechanisms for an employee
of the Operating Entity, an employee of the Program
Management Office, a member of an Advisory Committee, a
researcher or student affiliated with a NAIRR user described
in subsection (a)(1), an employee of a provider of a resource
of the NAIRR, an employee of a NAIRR funding agency, or a
member of the public to report scientific research misconduct
related to resources of the NAIRR.
``(d) System Security and User Access Controls.--The head
of the Program Management Office, acting through the Director
of the Operating Entity and in consultation with the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget, the Director of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the
Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Agency--
``(1) shall establish minimum security requirements for all
persons interacting with the NAIRR, consistent with the most
recent version of the Cybersecurity Framework, or successor
document, maintained by the National Institute of Standards
and Technology; and
``(2) may establish tiers of security requirements and user
access controls beyond the minimum requirements relative to
security risks.
``(e) Fee Schedule.--
``(1) In general.--The head of the Program Management
Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity,
may establish a fee schedule for access to the NAIRR. The
Operating Entity may only charge fees in such fee schedule.
Such fee schedule--
``(A) may differ by type of eligible user and type of
affiliated entity described in subsection (a);
``(B) shall include a free tier of access based on
appropriated funds and anticipated costs and demand;
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``(C) may include cost-based charges for eligible users to
purchase resources of the NAIRR beyond the resources included
in a free or subsidized tier; and
``(D) shall ensure that the primary purpose of the NAIRR is
to support research.
``(2) Retention and use of funds.--
``(A) Retaining of funds.--Notwithstanding section 3302 of
title 31, United States Code, the head of the Program
Management Office may retain fees collected under this
subsection.
``(B) Availability and use of funds.--Amounts retained
under subparagraph (A)--
``(i) shall remain available until expended; and
``(ii) shall be available to the head of the Program
Management Office, without further appropriation, for the
purposes of this title.
``(f) Research Security.--The head of the Program
Management Office, acting through the Director of the
Operating Entity, shall--
``(1) ensure conformance with the requirements of National
Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (relating to supported
research and development national policy), issued January
2021, and its implementation guidance on research security
and research integrity, or any successor policy document or
guidance, by establishing NAIRR operating principles that
emphasize the research integrity principles of openness,
reciprocity, and transparency; and
``(2) designate a member of the leadership team for the
Operating Entity as a research security point of contact with
responsibility for overseeing conformance with the National
Security Presidential Memorandum-33 and its implementation
guidance, or any successor policy document or guidance.
``(g) Open Source.--The head of the Program Management
Office, acting through the Director of the Operating Entity,
shall establish policies to encourage software developed to
administer the NAIRR, and software developed using resources
of the NAIRR, to be open-source software.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--The table of contents in
section 2(b) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law
116-283; 134 Stat. 3388) is amended by inserting after the
items relating to title LV the following:
``TITLE LVI--NATIONAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH RESOURCE
``Sec. 5601. Definitions.
``Sec. 5602. Establishment; governance.
``Sec. 5603. Resources of the NAIRR.
``Sec. 5604. NAIRR processes and procedures.''.
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