II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3891 

To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

to advance the development of technical standards for artificial intelligence, to establish the National Program to Advance Artificial Intelligence Research, to promote research on artificial intelligence at the 

National Science Foundation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2020 

Mr. GARDNER (for himself, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. WICKER) 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 advance the development of technical standards for artificial intelligence, to establish the 

National Program to Advance Artificial Intelligence Research, to promote research on artificial intelligence at 

the National Science Foundation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advancing Artificial 

5 Intelligence Research Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STANDARD DEVELOPMENT FOR ARTIFICIAL INTEL2 LIGENCE AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF 

3 STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY. 

4 The National Institute of Standards and Technology 

5 Act (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

6 section 22 the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 22A. STANDARDS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. 

8 ‘‘(a) MISSION.—The Institute shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) have the mission of advancing frameworks, 

10 standards, guidelines, and associated methods and 

11 techniques for artificial intelligence; 

12 ‘‘(2) support the development of a risk-mitiga13 tion framework for deploying artificial intelligence; 

14 ‘‘(3) support the development of technical 

15 standards and guidelines that promote reliable, ro16 bust, and trustworthy artificial intelligence; and 

17 ‘‘(4) support the development of technical 

18 standards and guidelines by which to test for bias in 

19 artificial intelligence training data and applications. 

20 ‘‘(b) PARTICIPATION IN STANDARD SETTING ORGA21 NIZATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Institute shall par23 ticipate in the development of standards and speci24 fications for artificial intelligence. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of participation 

2 of the Institute under paragraph (1) shall be to en3 sure— 

4 ‘‘(A) that standards promote artificial in5 telligence that is reliable, robust, and trust6 worthy; and 

7 ‘‘(B) that standards relating to artificial 

8 intelligence reflect the state of technology and 

9 are fit-for-purpose and developed in the trans10 parent and consensus-based processes that are 

11 open to all stakeholders.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL PROGRAM TO AD13 VANCE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RE14 SEARCH. 

15 The National Institute of Standards and Technology 

16 Act (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.), as amended by section 2, 

17 is further amended by inserting after section 22A the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 22B. NATIONAL PROGRAM TO ADVANCE ARTIFICIAL 

20 INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH. 

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

23 a research program with a national scope to advance 

24 use-inspired artificial intelligence research and its 

25 use in a manner that serves the needs of the United 


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1 States, the Institute, industry, the academic commu2 nity, and such other entities as the Director con3 siders appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION.—The research program es5 tablished under paragraph (1) shall be known as the 

6 ‘National Program to Advance Artificial Intelligence 

7 Research’ (in this section referred to as the ‘Pro8 gram’). 

9 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—The activities of the Program 

10 shall include the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) Supporting research necessary to opera12 tionalize the goals of reliable, robust, and trust13 worthy artificial intelligence. 

14 ‘‘(2) Supporting research necessary to develop 

15 and operationalize technical standards and guide16 lines that promote reliable, robust, and trustworthy 

17 artificial intelligence. 

18 ‘‘(3) Fostering development of artificial intel19 ligence applications that would enhance the public 

20 good. 

21 ‘‘(4) Supporting research necessary to advance 

22 human-centered artificial intelligence and examining 

23 societal, ethical, safety, security, and privacy effects 

24 of artificial intelligence development and deployment. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Creating and developing processes for the 

2 purpose of advancing use-inspired artificial intel3 ligence research and its use. 

4 ‘‘(6) Promoting exchange of personnel among 

5 industry, academic, and the government entities. 

6 ‘‘(7) Establishing and operating at least one 

7 test bed to support the outside entities testing the 

8 degree to which artificial intelligence applications 

9 and training data are reliable, robust, and trust10 worthy. 

11 ‘‘(c) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In establishing 

12 the Program, the Director may establish multiple physical 

13 campuses and a national network of participants to avoid 

14 undue geographic concentration of the activities of the 

15 Program. 

16 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

18 $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

19 2025.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL ARTIFICIAL INTEL21 LIGENCE RESEARCH INSTITUTES. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

24 Science Foundation shall establish at least 6 re25 search institutes to serve the needs of the United 


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1 States, industry, the academic community, and such 

2 other entities as the Director considers appropriate 

3 by— 

4 (A) conducting research on longer-time-ho5 rizon challenges in artificial intelligence re6 search; and 

7 (B) creating and developing processes for 

8 the purpose of advancing use-inspired artificial 

9 intelligence research and its deployment. 

10 (2) DESIGNATION.—Each research institute es11 tablished under paragraph (1) shall be known as a 

12 ‘‘National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute’’. 

13 (b) GRANTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

15 the research institutes under subsection (a) through 

16 the award of grants to eligible entities using a com17 petitive, merit-reviewed process. 

18 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of this 

19 section, an eligible entity is— 

20 (A) an institution of higher education; 

21 (B) a nonprofit research center; 

22 (C) such other type of entity as the Direc23 tor considers appropriate; or 


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1 (D) a collaboration of any combination of 

2 entities described in subparagraphs (A) through 

3 (C). 

4 (3) DURATION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each grant awarded 

6 under paragraph (1) shall be for a period of 5 

7 years. 

8 (B) REAPPLICATION.—The Director may 

9 approve or disapprove reapplications from grant 

10 recipients for additional grants. 

11 (C) TERMINATION.—The Director may ter12 minate a grant awarded under paragraph (1) 

13 for an underperforming research institute, for 

14 cause, during the performance period of the 

15 grant. 

16 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking a 

17 grant under paragraph (1) to establish a research institute 

18 under this section shall submit to the Director an applica19 tion therefor at such time, in such manner, and containing 

20 such information as the Director determines appropriate. 

21 (d) COMMUNITY FACILITY.—The Director shall en22 sure that at least 1 research institute established under 

23 this section operates an artificial-intelligence community 

24 computing facility that is available for use by entities 


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1 other than research institutes established under this sec2 tion. 

3 (e) FUNDING.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

5 appropriations, the Director may, in each of fiscal 

6 years 2021 through 2025, obligate to carry out this 

7 section an amount that is less than or equal to 

8 $50,000,000 multiplied by the number of research 

9 institutes established under this section. 

10 (2) DERIVATION OF FUNDS.—Amounts obli11 gated to carry out this section shall be derived from 

12 amounts appropriated to the Foundation. 

13 SEC. 5. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION TRAINEESHIP 

14 PROGRAM GRANTS. 

15 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

17 Science Foundation shall carry out a program to 

18 award grants to eligible entities to establish train19 eeship programs and support trainees in topics se20 lected by the Director under subsection (c). 

21 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program es22 tablished by the Director under paragraph (1) shall 

23 be to increase the number of individuals with ad24 vanced degrees through both direct support and pro25 grammatic support. 


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1 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of this sec2 tion, an eligible entity is— 

3 (1) an institution of higher education; or 

4 (2) a consortia of institutions of higher edu5 cation or nonprofit organizations. 

6 (c) TOPICS OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

8 the Director shall select a topic for the award of 

9 grants under subsection (a) based on— 

10 (A) the potential of a traineeship program 

11 in the topic or support of trainees in the topic 

12 to affect society positively; 

13 (B) the importance of the topic to the 

14 economy and security of the United States; 

15 (C) the career opportunities for the grad16 uates; and 

17 (D) the need for workers in the topic with 

18 advanced degrees. 

19 (2) INITIAL TOPIC SELECTION.—The Director 

20 shall select artificial intelligence as the initial topic 

21 for the award of grants under subsection (a). 

22 (d) COMPONENTS.—A grant awarded under this sec23 tion may include support for— 

24 (1) the recipient of the grant to develop and 

25 distribute model curriculum that may be used by 


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1 other graduate programs to educate students in the 

2 topic selected under subsection (c); 

3 (2) mentors to provide guidance for students 

4 within the topic area; and 

5 (3) tuition and stipend for students pursuing a 

6 masters or doctoral degree. 

7 SEC. 6. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION PILOT PROGRAM 

8 ON GRANTS FOR RESEARCH IN RAPIDLY 

9 EVOLVING, HIGH PRIORITY TOPICS. 

10 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Director of 

11 the National Science Foundation shall establish a pilot 

12 program to assess the feasibility and advisability of award13 ing grants for the conduct of research in rapidly evolving, 

14 high priority topics. 

15 (b) DURATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry out 

17 the pilot program required by subsection (a) during 

18 the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enact19 ment of this Act. 

20 (2) ASSESSMENT AND CONTINUATION AUTHOR21 ITY.—After the period set forth in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) the Director shall assess the pilot pro23 gram; and 


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1 (B) if the Director determines that it is 

2 both feasible and advisable to do so, the Direc3 tor may continue the pilot program. 

4 (c) GRANTS.—In carrying out the pilot program, the 

5 Director shall award grants for the conduct of research 

6 in topics selected by the Director in accordance with sub7 section (d). 

8 (d) TOPIC SELECTION.—The Director shall select 

9 topics for research under the pilot program in accordance 

10 with the following: 

11 (1) The Director shall select artificial intel12 ligence as the initial topic for the pilot program. 

13 (2) The Director may select additional topics 

14 that the Director determines are— 

15 (A) rapidly evolving; or 

16 (B) of high importance to the economy and 

17 security of the United States. 

18 (e) APPLICATIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

20 person seeking a grant under the pilot program shall 

21 submit to the Director an application therefor at 

22 such time, in such manner, and containing such in23 formation as the Director may specify. 

24 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

25 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 


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1 (A) A brief description of the research the 

2 applicant proposes to carry out with a grant 

3 awarded under the pilot program. 

4 (B) A brief description of how the research 

5 is of an urgent nature. 

6 (C) The general goals of the research. 

7 (D) Such other information as the Director 

8 may specify. 

9 (f) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 

10 the pilot program shall use the amount of the grant to 

11 conduct the research for which the grant was awarded. 

12 (g) SUMMARIES OF RESEARCH FINDINGS.—A recipi13 ent of a grant under the pilot program shall submit to 

14 the Director, at such intervals as the Director determines 

15 appropriate, a summary of the findings of the recipient 

16 with respect to the research conducted with the grant 

17 amount. 

Æ 


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