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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4664 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>

                                                       Calendar No. 631
118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4664

 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to promote 
   the use of artificial intelligence to support the missions of the 
             Department of Energy, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 10, 2024

 Mr. Manchin (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

                           November 21, 2024

               Reported by Mr. Manchin, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to promote 
   the use of artificial intelligence to support the missions of the 
             Department of Energy, and for other purposes.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Energy AI 
Act''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Congress finds that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) the Department has a leading role to play in 
        making the most of the potential of artificial intelligence to 
        advance the missions of the Department relating to national 
        security, science, and energy (including critical 
        materials);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) the 17 National Laboratories employ over 
        40,000 scientists, engineers, and researchers with decades of 
        experience developing world-leading advanced computational 
        algorithms, computer science research, experimentation, and 
        applications in machine learning that underlie artificial 
        intelligence;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) the NNSA manages the Stockpile Stewardship 
        Program established under section 4201 of the Atomic Energy 
        Defense Act (50 U.S.C. 2521), which includes the Advanced 
        Simulation and Computing program, that provides critical 
        classified and unclassified computing capabilities to sustain 
        the nuclear stockpile of the United States;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) for decades, the Department has led the world 
        in the design, construction, and operation of the preeminent 
        high-performance computing systems of the United States, which 
        benefit the scientific and economic competitiveness of the 
        United States across many sectors, including energy, critical 
        materials, biotechnology, and national security;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) across the network of 34 user facilities of 
        the Department, scientists generate tremendous volumes of high-
        quality open data across diverse research areas, while the NNSA 
        has always generated the foremost datasets in the world on 
        nuclear deterrence and strategic weapons;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) the unrivaled quantity and quality of open and 
        classified scientific datasets of the Department is a unique 
        asset to rapidly develop frontier AI models;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) the Department already develops cutting-edge 
        AI models to execute the broad mission of the Department, 
        including AI models of the Department that are used to forecast 
        disease transmission for COVID-19, and address critical 
        material issues and emerging nuclear security 
        missions;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (8) the AI capabilities of the Department will 
        underpin and jumpstart a dedicated, focused, and centralized AI 
        program; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (9) under section 4.1(b) of Executive Order 14110 
        (88 Fed. Reg. 75191 (November 1, 2023)) (relating to the safe, 
        secure, and trustworthy development and use of artificial 
        intelligence), the Secretary is tasked to lead development in 
        testbeds, national security protections, and assessment of 
        artificial intelligence applications.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    In this Act:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) AI; artificial intelligence.--The terms ``AI'' 
        and ``artificial intelligence'' have the meaning given the term 
        ``artificial intelligence'' in section 5002 of the National 
        Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 
        9401).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Alignment.--The term ``alignment'' means a 
        field of AI safety research that aims to make AI systems behave 
        in line with human intentions.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Energy, including the NNSA.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) Foundation model.--The term ``foundation 
        model'' means an AI model that--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) is trained on broad data;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) generally uses self-
                supervision;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) contains at least tens of billions of 
                parameters; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) is applicable across a wide range of 
                contexts; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (E) exhibits, or could be easily modified 
                to exhibit, high levels of performance at tasks that 
                pose a serious risk to the security, national economic 
                security, or national public health or safety of the 
                United States.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) Frontier ai.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) In general.--The term ``frontier AI'' 
                means the leading edge of AI research that remains 
                unexplored and is considered to be the most 
                challenging, including models--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) that exceed the capabilities 
                        currently present in the most advanced existing 
                        models; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) many of which perform a wide 
                        variety of tasks.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Inclusion.--The term ``frontier AI'' 
                includes AI models with more than 1,000,000,000,000 
                parameters.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) National laboratory.--The term ``National 
        Laboratory'' has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the 
        Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) NNSA.--The term ``NNSA'' means the National 
        Nuclear Security Administration.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the 
        Secretary of Energy.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (9) Testbed.--The term ``testbed'' means any 
        platform, facility, or environment that enables the testing and 
        evaluation of scientific theories and new technologies, 
        including hardware, software, or field environments in which 
        structured frameworks can be implemented to conduct tests to 
        assess the performance, reliability, safety, and security of a 
        wide range of items, including prototypes, systems, 
        applications, AI models, instruments, computational tools, 
        devices, and other technological innovations.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH TO 
              DEPLOYMENT.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Program To Develop and Deploy Frontiers in Artificial 
Intelligence for Science, Security, and Technology (FASST).--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after 
        the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
        establish a centralized AI program to carry out research on the 
        development and deployment of advanced artificial intelligence 
        capabilities for the missions of the Department (referred to in 
        this subsection as the ``program''), consistent with the 
        program established under section 5501 of the William M. (Mac) 
        Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
        2021 (15 U.S.C. 9461).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Program components.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) In general.--The program shall advance 
                and support diverse activities that include the 
                following components:</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) Aggregation, curation, and 
                        distribution of AI training datasets.</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) Development and deployment of 
                        next-generation computing platforms and 
                        infrastructure.</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) Development and deployment 
                        of safe and trustworthy AI models and 
                        systems.</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iv) Tuning and adaptation of AI 
                        models and systems for pressing scientific, 
                        energy, and national security 
                        applications.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Aggregation, curation, and 
                distribution of ai training datasets.--In carrying out 
                the component of the program described in subparagraph 
                (A)(i), the Secretary shall develop methods, platforms, 
                protocols, and other tools required for efficient, 
                safe, and effective aggregation, generation, curation, 
                and distribution of AI training datasets, including--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) assembling, aggregating, and 
                        curating large-scale training data for advanced 
                        AI, including outputs from research programs of 
                        the Department and other open science data, 
                        with the goal of developing comprehensive 
                        scientific AI training databases and testing 
                        and validation data;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) developing and executing 
                        appropriate data management plan for the 
                        ethical, responsible, and secure use of 
                        classified and unclassified scientific 
                        data;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) identifying, curating, and 
                        safely distributing, as appropriate based on 
                        the application--</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    (I) scientific and 
                                experimental Departmental datasets; 
                                and</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    (II) sponsored research 
                                activities that are needed for the 
                                training of foundation and adapted 
                                downstream AI models; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iv) partnering with stakeholders 
                        to curate critical datasets that reside outside 
                        the Department but are determined to be 
                        critical to optimizing the capabilities of 
                        open-science AI foundation models, national 
                        security AI foundation models, and other AI 
                        technologies developed under the 
                        program.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) Development and deployment of next-
                generation computing platforms and infrastructure.--In 
                carrying out the component of the program described in 
                subparagraph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) develop early-stage AI 
                        testbeds to test and evaluate new software, 
                        hardware, algorithms, and other AI-based 
                        technologies and applications;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) develop and deploy new 
                        energy-efficient AI computing hardware and 
                        software infrastructure necessary for 
                        developing and deploying trustworthy frontier 
                        AI systems that leverage the high-performance 
                        computing capabilities of the Department and 
                        the National Laboratories;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) facilitate the development 
                        and deployment of unclassified and classified 
                        high-performance computing systems and AI 
                        platforms through Department-owned 
                        infrastructure data and computing 
                        facilities;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iv) procure high-performance 
                        computing and other resources necessary for 
                        developing, training, evaluating, and deploying 
                        AI foundation models and AI technologies; 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (v) use appropriate supplier 
                        screening tools available through the 
                        Department to ensure that procurements under 
                        clause (iv) are from trusted 
                        suppliers.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) Development and deployment of safe and 
                trustworthy ai models and systems.--In carrying out the 
                component of the program described in subparagraph 
                (A)(iii), not later than 3 years after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) develop innovative concepts 
                        and applied mathematics, computer science, 
                        engineering, and other science disciplines 
                        needed for frontier AI;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) develop best-in-class AI 
                        foundation models and other AI technologies for 
                        open-science and national security 
                        applications;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) research and deploy counter-
                        adversarial artificial intelligence solutions 
                        to predict, prevent, mitigate, and respond to 
                        threats to critical infrastructure, energy 
                        security, and nuclear nonproliferation, and 
                        biological and chemical threats;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iv) establish crosscutting 
                        research efforts on AI risks, reliability, 
                        safety, trustworthiness, and alignment, 
                        including the creation of unclassified and 
                        classified data platforms across the 
                        Department; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (v) develop capabilities needed to 
                        ensure the safe and responsible implementation 
                        of AI in the private and public sectors that--
                        </DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    (I) may be readily applied 
                                across Federal agencies and private 
                                entities to ensure that open-science 
                                models are released responsibly, 
                                securely, and in the national interest; 
                                and</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    (II) ensure that 
                                classified national security models are 
                                secure, responsibly managed, and safely 
                                implemented in the national 
                                interest.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (E) Tuning and adaptation of ai models and 
                systems for pressing scientific and national security 
                applications.--In carrying out the component of the 
                program described in subparagraph (A)(iv), the 
                Secretary shall--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) use AI foundation models and 
                        other AI technologies to develop a multitude of 
                        tuned and adapted downstream models to solve 
                        pressing scientific, energy, and national 
                        security challenges;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) carry out joint work, 
                        including public-private partnerships, and 
                        cooperative research projects with industry, 
                        including end user companies, hardware systems 
                        vendors, and AI software companies, to advance 
                        AI technologies relevant to the missions of the 
                        Department;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) form partnerships with other 
                        Federal agencies, institutions of higher 
                        education, and international organizations 
                        aligned with the interests of the United States 
                        to advance frontier AI systems development and 
                        deployment; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iv) increase research experiences 
                        and workforce development, including training 
                        for undergraduate and graduate students in 
                        frontier AI for science, energy, and national 
                        security.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Strategic plan.--In carrying out the program, 
        the Secretary shall develop a strategic plan with specific 
        short-term and long-term goals and resource needs to advance 
        applications in AI for science, energy, and national security 
        to support the missions of the Department, consistent with--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) the 2023 National Laboratory workshop 
                report entitled ``Advanced Research Directions on AI 
                for Science, Energy, and Security''; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) the 2024 National Laboratory workshop 
                report entitled ``AI for Energy''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) AI Research and Development Centers.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) In general.--As part of the program 
        established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall select, 
        on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis, National Laboratories 
        to establish and operate not fewer than 8 multidisciplinary AI 
        Research and Development Centers (referred to in this 
        subsection as ``Centers'')--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) to accelerate the safe and trustworthy 
                deployment of AI for science, energy, and national 
                security missions;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) to demonstrate the use of AI in 
                addressing key challenge problems of national interest 
                in science, energy, and national security; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) to maintain the competitive advantage 
                of the United States in AI.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Focus.--Each Center shall bring together 
        diverse teams from National Laboratories, academia, and 
        industry to collaboratively and concurrently deploy hardware, 
        software, numerical methods, data, algorithms, and applications 
        for AI and ensure that the frontier AI research of the 
        Department is well-suited for key Department missions, 
        including by using existing and emerging computing systems to 
        the maximum extent practicable.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Administration.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) National laboratory.--Each Center 
                shall be established as part of a National 
                Laboratory.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Application.--To be eligible for 
                selection to establish and operate a Center under 
                paragraph (1), a National Laboratory shall submit to 
                the Secretary an application at such time, in such 
                manner, and containing such information as the 
                Secretary may require.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) Director.--Each Center shall be headed 
                by a Director, who shall be the Chief Executive Officer 
                of the Center and an employee of the National 
                Laboratory described in subparagraph (A), and 
                responsible for--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) successful execution of the 
                        goals of the Center; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) coordinating with other 
                        Centers.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) Technical roadmap.--In support of the 
                strategic plan developed under subsection (a)(3), each 
                Center shall--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) set a research and innovation 
                        goal central to advancing the science, energy, 
                        and national security mission of the 
                        Department; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) establish a technical roadmap 
                        to meet that goal in not more than 7 
                        years.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (E) Coordination.--The Secretary shall 
                coordinate, minimize duplication, and resolve conflicts 
                between the Centers.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) Funding.--Of the amounts made available under 
        subsection (h), each Center shall receive not less than 
        $30,000,000 per year for a duration of not less than 5 years 
        but not more than 7 years, which yearly amount may be renewed 
        for an additional 5-year period.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) AI Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Program.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) AI risk program.--As part of the program 
        established under subsection (a), and consistent with the 
        missions of the Department, the Secretary, in consultation with 
        the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense, 
        the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the 
        National Security Agency, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall 
        carry out a comprehensive program to evaluate and mitigate 
        safety and security risks associated with artificial 
        intelligence systems (referred to in this subsection as the 
        ``AI risk program'').</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Risk taxonomy.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) In general.--Under the AI risk 
                program, the Secretary shall develop a taxonomy of 
                safety and security risks associated with artificial 
                intelligence systems relevant to the missions of the 
                Department, including, at a minimum, the risks 
                described in subparagraph (B).</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Risks described.--The risks referred 
                to in subparagraph (A) are the abilities of artificial 
                intelligence--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) to generate information at a 
                        given classification level;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) to assist in generation of 
                        nuclear weapons information;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) to assist in generation of 
                        chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, 
                        nonproliferation, critical infrastructure, and 
                        energy security threats or hazards;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iv) to assist in generation of 
                        malware and other cyber and adversarial threats 
                        that pose a significant national security risk, 
                        such as threatening the stability of critical 
                        national infrastructure;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (v) to undermine public trust in 
                        the use of artificial intelligence technologies 
                        or in national security;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (vi) to deceive a human operator 
                        or computer system, or otherwise act in 
                        opposition to the goals of a human operator or 
                        automated systems; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (vii) to act autonomously with 
                        little or no human intervention in ways that 
                        conflict with human intentions.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (d) Shared Resources for AI.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) In general.--As part of the program 
        established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall identify, 
        support, and sustain shared resources and enabling tools that 
        have the potential to accelerate the pace of scientific 
        discovery and technological innovation with respect to the 
        missions of the Department relating to science, energy, and 
        national security.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Consultation.--In carrying out paragraph (1), 
        the Secretary shall consult with relevant experts in industry, 
        academia, and the National Laboratories.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Focus.--Shared resources and enabling tools 
        referred to in paragraph (1) shall include the 
        following:</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) Scientific data and knowledge bases 
                for training AI systems.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Benchmarks and competitions for 
                evaluating advances in AI systems.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) Platform technologies that lower the 
                cost of generating training data or enable the 
                generation of novel training data.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) High-performance computing, including 
                hybrid computing systems that integrate AI and high-
                performance computing.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (E) The combination of AI and scientific 
                automation, such as cloud labs and self-driving 
                labs.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (F) Tools that enable AI to solve inverse 
                design problems.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (G) Testbeds for accelerating progress at 
                the intersection of AI and cyberphysical 
                systems.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (e) Administration.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Research security.--The activities authorized 
        under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent with 
        subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, 
        Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19231 et 
        seq.).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Cybersecurity.--The Secretary shall ensure the 
        integration of robust cybersecurity measures into all AI 
        research-to-deployment efforts authorized under this section to 
        protect the integrity and confidentiality of collected and 
        analyzed data.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Partnerships with private entities.--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall seek 
                to establish partnerships with private companies and 
                nonprofit organizations in carrying out this Act, 
                including with respect to the research, development, 
                and deployment of each of the 4 program components 
                described in subsection (a)(2)(A).</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Requirement.--In carrying out 
                subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall protect any 
                information submitted to or shared by the Department 
                consistent with applicable laws (including 
                regulations).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (f) STEM Education and Workforce Development.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) In general.--Of the amounts made available 
        under subsection (h), not less than 10 percent shall be used to 
        foster the education and training of the next-generation AI 
        workforce.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) AI talent.--As part of the program established 
        under subsection (a), the Secretary shall develop the required 
        workforce, and hire and train not fewer than 500 new 
        researchers to meet the rising demand for AI talent--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) with a particular emphasis on 
                expanding the number of individuals from 
                underrepresented groups pursuing and attaining skills 
                relevant to AI; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) including by--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) providing training, grants, 
                        and research opportunities;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) carrying out public awareness 
                        campaigns about AI career paths; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) establishing new degree and 
                        certificate programs in AI-related disciplines 
                        at universities and community 
                        colleges.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (g) Annual Report.--The Secretary shall submit to Congress 
an annual report describing--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) the progress, findings, and expenditures under 
        each program established under this section; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) any legislative recommendations for promoting 
        and improving each of those programs.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
to be appropriated to carry out this section $2,400,000,000 each year 
for the 5-year period following the date of enactment of this 
Act.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 5. FEDERAL PERMITTING.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program to 
improve Federal permitting processes for energy-related projects, 
including critical materials projects, using artificial 
intelligence.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Program Components.--In carrying out the program 
established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall carry out 
activities, including activities that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) analyze data and provide tools from past 
        environmental and other permitting reviews, including by--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) extracting data from applications for 
                comparison with data relied on in environmental reviews 
                to assess the adequacy and relevance of 
                applications;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) extracting information from past site-
                specific analyses in the area of a current 
                project;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) summarizing key mitigation actions 
                that have been successfully applied in past similar 
                projects; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) using AI for deeper reviews of past 
                determinations under the National Environmental Policy 
                Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to inform more 
                flexible and effective categorical exclusions; 
                and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) build tools to improve future reviews, 
        including--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) tools for project proponents that 
                accelerate preparation of environmental 
                documentation;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) tools for government reviewers such as 
                domain-specific large language models that help convert 
                geographic information system or tabular data on 
                resources potentially impacted into rough-draft 
                narrative documents;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) tools to be applied in nongovernmental 
                settings, such as automatic reviews of applications to 
                assess the completeness of information; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) a strategic plan to implement and 
                deploy online and digital tools to improve Federal 
                permitting activities, developed in consultation with--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) the Secretary of the 
                        Interior;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) the Secretary of Agriculture, 
                        with respect to National Forest System 
                        land;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iii) the Executive Director of 
                        the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering 
                        Council established by section 41002(a) of the 
                        FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m-1(a)); and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (iv) the heads of any other 
                        relevant Federal department or agency, as 
                        determined appropriate by the 
                        Secretary.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 6. RULEMAKING ON AI STANDARDIZATION FOR GRID 
              INTERCONNECTION.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall initiate a 
rulemaking to revise the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection 
Procedures promulgated pursuant to section 35.28(f) of title 18, Code 
of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), to require public 
utility transmission providers to share and employ, as appropriate, 
queue management best practices with respect to the use of computing 
technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, or 
automation, in evaluating and processing interconnection requests, in 
order to expedite study results with respect to those 
requests.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 7. ENSURING ENERGY SECURITY FOR DATACENTERS AND COMPUTING 
              RESOURCES.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) assesses--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) the growth of computing data centers 
                and advanced computing electrical power load in the 
                United States;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) potential risks of growth in computing 
                centers or growth in the required electrical power to 
                United States energy and national security; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) the extent to which emerging 
                technologies, such as artificial intelligence and 
                advanced computing, may impact hardware and software 
                systems used at data and computing centers; 
                and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) provides recommendations for--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) resources and capabilities that the 
                Department may provide to promote access to energy 
                resources by data centers and advanced 
                computing;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) policy changes to ensure domestic 
                deployment of data center and advanced computing 
                resources prevents offshoring of United States data and 
                resources; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) improving the energy efficiency of 
                data centers, advanced computing, and AI.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 8. OFFICE OF CRITICAL AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Title II of the Department of Energy 
Organization Act is amended by inserting after section 215 (42 U.S.C. 
7144b) the following:</DELETED>

<DELETED>``SEC. 216. OFFICE OF CRITICAL AND EMERGING 
              TECHNOLOGY.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) Critical and emerging technology.--The term 
        `critical and emerging technology' means--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) advanced technology that is 
                potentially significant to United States 
                competitiveness, energy security, or national security, 
                such as biotechnology, advanced computing, and advanced 
                manufacturing;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) technology that may address the 
                challenges described in subsection (b) of section 10387 
                of the Research and Development, Competition, and 
                Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19107); and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) technology described in the key 
                technology focus areas described in subsection (c) of 
                that section (42 U.S.C. 19107).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Department capabilities.--The term 
        `Department capabilities' means--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) each of the National Laboratories 
                (as defined in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 
                2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)); and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) each associated user facility of the 
                Department.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) Director.--The term `Director' means the 
        Director of Critical and Emerging Technology described in 
        subsection (d).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(4) Office.--The term `Office' means the Office 
        of Critical and Emerging Technology established by subsection 
        (b).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(b) Establishment.--There shall be within the Office of 
the Under Secretary for Science and Innovation an Office of Critical 
and Emerging Technology.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(c) Mission.--The mission of the Office shall be--
</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) to work across the entire Department to 
        assess and analyze the status of and gaps in United States 
        competitiveness, energy security, and national security 
        relating to critical and emerging technologies, including 
        through the use of Department capabilities;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) to leverage Department capabilities to 
        provide for rapid response to emerging threats and 
        technological surprise from new emerging 
        technologies;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) to promote greater participation of 
        Department capabilities within national science policy and 
        international forums; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(4) to inform the direction of research and 
        policy decisionmaking relating to potential risks of adoption 
        and use of emerging technologies, such as inadvertent or 
        deliberate misuses of technology.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(d) Director of Critical and Emerging Technology.--The 
Office shall be headed by a director, to be known as the `Director of 
Critical and Emerging Technology', who shall--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) be appointed by the Secretary; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) be an individual who, by reason of 
        professional background and experience, is specially qualified 
        to advise the Secretary on matters pertaining to critical and 
        emerging technology.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(e) Collaboration.--In carrying out the mission and 
activities of the Office, the Director shall closely collaborate with 
all relevant Departmental entities, including the National Nuclear 
Security Administration and the Office of Science, to maximize the 
computational capabilities of the Department and minimize redundant 
capabilities.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(f) Coordination.--In carrying out the mission and 
activities of the Office, the Director--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) shall coordinate with senior leadership 
        across the Department and other stakeholders (such as 
        institutions of higher education and private 
        industry);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) shall ensure the coordination of the Office 
        of Science with the other activities of the Department relating 
        to critical and emerging technology, including the transfer of 
        knowledge, capabilities, and relevant technologies, from basic 
        research programs of the Department to applied research and 
        development programs of the Department, for the purpose of 
        enabling development of mission-relevant 
        technologies;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) shall support joint activities among the 
        programs of the Department;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(4) shall coordinate with the heads of other 
        relevant Federal agencies operating under existing 
        authorizations with subjects related to the mission of the 
        Office described in subsection (c) in support of advancements 
        in related research areas, as the Director determines to be 
        appropriate; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(5) may form partnerships to enhance the use of, 
        and to ensure access to, user facilities by other Federal 
        agencies.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(g) Planning, Assessment, and Reporting.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after 
        the date of enactment of the Department of Energy AI Act, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a critical and emerging 
        technology action plan and assessment, which shall include--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) a review of current investments, 
                programs, activities, and science infrastructure of the 
                Department, including under National Laboratories, to 
                advance critical and emerging technologies;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) a description of any shortcomings of 
                the capabilities of the Department that may adversely 
                impact national competitiveness relating to emerging 
                technologies or national security; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) a budget projection for the 
                subsequent 5 fiscal years of planned investments of the 
                Department in each critical and emerging technology, 
                including research and development, infrastructure, 
                pilots, test beds, demonstration projects, and other 
                relevant activities.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Updates.--Every 2 years after the submission 
        of the plan and assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall submit to Congress--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) an updated emerging technology 
                action plan and assessment; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) a report that describes the progress 
                made toward meeting the goals set forth in the emerging 
                technology action plan and assessment submitted 
                previously.''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the 
Department of Energy Organization Act (Public Law 95-91; 91 Stat. 565; 
119 Stat. 764; 133 Stat. 2199) is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 215 the following:</DELETED>

<DELETED>``Sec. 216. Office of Critical and Emerging Technology.''.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Energy AI Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Department has a leading role to play in making the 
        most of the potential of artificial intelligence to advance the 
        missions of the Department relating to national security, 
        science, and energy (including critical materials);
            (2) the 17 National Laboratories employ over 40,000 
        scientists, engineers, and researchers with decades of 
        experience developing world-leading advanced computational 
        algorithms, computer science research, experimentation, and 
        applications in machine learning that underlie artificial 
        intelligence;
            (3) the NNSA manages the Stockpile Stewardship Program 
        established under section 4201 of the Atomic Energy Defense Act 
        (50 U.S.C. 2521), which includes the Advanced Simulation and 
        Computing program, that provides critical classified and 
        unclassified computing capabilities to sustain the nuclear 
        stockpile of the United States;
            (4) for decades, the Department has led the world in the 
        design, construction, and operation of the preeminent high-
        performance computing systems of the United States, which 
        benefit the scientific and economic competitiveness of the 
        United States across many sectors, including energy, critical 
        materials, biotechnology, and national security;
            (5) across the Department's network of 34 user facilities, 
        scientists generate tremendous volumes of high-quality open 
        data across diverse research areas, while the NNSA has always 
        generated the foremost datasets in the world on nuclear 
        deterrence and strategic weapons;
            (6) the unrivaled quantity and quality of open and 
        classified scientific datasets of the Department is a unique 
        asset to rapidly develop frontier AI models;
            (7) the Department already develops cutting-edge AI models 
        to execute the broad mission of the Department, including AI 
        models developed by the Department that are used to forecast 
        disease transmission for COVID-19, and address critical 
        material issues and emerging nuclear security missions;
            (8) the AI capabilities of the Department will underpin and 
        jumpstart a dedicated, focused, and centralized AI program; and
            (9) under section 4.1(b) of Executive Order 14110 (88 Fed. 
        Reg. 75191 (November 1, 2023)) (relating to the safe, secure, 
        and trustworthy development and use of artificial 
        intelligence), the Secretary is tasked to lead development in 
        testbeds, national security protections, and assessment of 
        artificial intelligence applications.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) AI; artificial intelligence.--The terms ``AI'' and 
        ``artificial intelligence'' have the meaning given the term 
        ``artificial intelligence'' in section 5002 of the National 
        Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 
        9401).
            (2) Alignment.--The term ``alignment'' means a field of AI 
        safety research that aims to make AI systems behave in line 
        with human intentions.
            (3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Energy, including the NNSA.
            (4) Foundation model.--The term ``foundation model'' means 
        an AI model that--
                    (A) is trained on broad data;
                    (B) generally uses self-supervision;
                    (C) contains at least tens of billions of 
                parameters; and
                    (D) is applicable across a wide range of contexts; 
                and
                    (E) exhibits, or could be easily modified to 
                exhibit, high levels of performance at tasks that pose 
                a serious risk to the security, national economic 
                security, or national public health or safety of the 
                United States.
            (5) Frontier ai.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``frontier AI'' means the 
                leading edge of AI research that remains unexplored and 
                is considered to be the most challenging, including 
                models--
                            (i) that exceed the capabilities currently 
                        present in the most advanced existing models; 
                        and
                            (ii) many of which perform a wide variety 
                        of tasks.
                    (B) Inclusion.--The term ``frontier AI'' includes 
                AI models with more than 1,000,000,000,000 parameters.
            (6) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy 
        Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
            (7) NNSA.--The term ``NNSA'' means the National Nuclear 
        Security Administration.
            (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
            (9) Testbed.--The term ``testbed'' means any platform, 
        facility, or environment that enables the testing and 
        evaluation of scientific theories and new technologies, 
        including hardware, software, or field environments in which 
        structured frameworks can be implemented to conduct tests to 
        assess the performance, reliability, safety, and security of a 
        wide range of items, including prototypes, systems, 
        applications, AI models, instruments, computational tools, 
        devices, and other technological innovations.

SEC. 4. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH TO DEPLOYMENT.

    (a) Program to Develop and Deploy Frontiers in Artificial 
Intelligence for Science, Security, and Technology (FASST).--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a 
        centralized AI program to carry out research on the development 
        and deployment of advanced artificial intelligence capabilities 
        for the missions of the Department (referred to in this 
        subsection as the ``program''), consistent with the program 
        established under section 5501 of the William M. (Mac) 
        Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
        2021 (15 U.S.C. 9461).
            (2) Program components.--
                    (A) In general.--The program shall advance and 
                support diverse activities that include the following 
                components:
                            (i) Aggregation, curation, and distribution 
                        of AI training datasets.
                            (ii) Development and deployment of next-
                        generation computing platforms and 
                        infrastructure.
                            (iii) Development and deployment of safe 
                        and trustworthy AI models and systems.
                            (iv) Tuning and adaptation of AI models and 
                        systems for pressing scientific, energy, and 
                        national security applications.
                    (B) Aggregation, curation, and distribution of ai 
                training datasets.--In carrying out the component of 
                the program described in subparagraph (A)(i), the 
                Secretary shall develop methods, platforms, protocols, 
                and other tools required for efficient, safe, secure, 
                and effective aggregation, generation, curation, and 
                distribution of AI training datasets, including--
                            (i) assembling, aggregating, and curating 
                        large-scale training data for advanced AI, 
                        including outputs and synthetic data from 
                        research programs of the Department and other 
                        open science data, with the goal of developing 
                        comprehensive scientific AI training databases 
                        and testing and validation data;
                            (ii) developing and executing appropriate 
                        data management plan for the ethical, 
                        responsible, and secure use of classified and 
                        unclassified scientific data;
                            (iii) identifying, restricting, securing, 
                        curating, and safely distributing, as 
                        appropriate based on the application--
                                    (I) scientific and experimental 
                                Departmental datasets; and
                                    (II) sponsored research activities 
                                that are needed for the training of 
                                foundation and adapted downstream AI 
                                models; and
                            (iv) partnering with stakeholders to 
                        identify, secure, and curate critical datasets 
                        that reside outside the Department but are 
                        determined to be critical to optimizing the 
                        capabilities of open-science AI foundation 
                        models, national security AI foundation models, 
                        applied energy AI foundation models, and other 
                        AI technologies developed under the program.
                    (C) Development and deployment of next-generation 
                computing platforms and infrastructure.--In carrying 
                out the component of the program described in 
                subparagraph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall--
                            (i) develop early-stage and application-
                        stage AI testbeds to test and evaluate new 
                        software, hardware, algorithms, and other AI-
                        based technologies and applications;
                            (ii) develop and deploy new energy-
                        efficient AI computing hardware and software 
                        infrastructure necessary for developing and 
                        deploying trustworthy and secure interoperable 
                        frontier AI systems that leverage the high-
                        performance computing capabilities of the 
                        Department and the National Laboratories;
                            (iii) facilitate the development and 
                        deployment of unclassified and classified high-
                        performance computing systems and AI platforms 
                        through Department-owned infrastructure data 
                        and computing facilities;
                            (iv) procure interoperable high-performance 
                        computing and other resources necessary for 
                        developing, training, evaluating, and deploying 
                        AI foundation models and AI technologies; and
                            (v) use appropriate supplier screening 
                        tools available through the Department to 
                        ensure that procurements under clause (iv) are 
                        from trusted suppliers.
                    (D) Development and deployment of safe, secure, and 
                trustworthy ai models and systems.--In carrying out the 
                component of the program described in subparagraph 
                (A)(iii), not later than 3 years after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
                            (i) develop innovative concepts and applied 
                        mathematics, computer science, engineering, and 
                        other science disciplines needed for frontier 
                        AI;
                            (ii) develop best-in-class AI foundation 
                        models and other AI technologies for open-
                        science, applied energy, and national security 
                        applications;
                            (iii) research, develop, and deploy 
                        counter-adversarial artificial intelligence 
                        solutions to predict, prevent, mitigate, and 
                        respond to threats to critical infrastructure, 
                        energy security, nuclear nonproliferation, 
                        biological and chemical threats, and cyber 
                        threats;
                            (iv) establish crosscutting research 
                        efforts on AI risks, reliability, safety, 
                        cybersecurity, trustworthiness, and alignment, 
                        including the creation of unclassified and 
                        classified data platforms across the 
                        Department; and
                            (v) develop capabilities needed to ensure 
                        the safe, secure, and responsible 
                        implementation of AI in the private and public 
                        sectors that--
                                    (I) may be readily applied across 
                                Federal agencies and private entities 
                                to ensure that open-science models are 
                                released, operated, and managed 
                                responsibly, securely, and in the 
                                national interest; and
                                    (II) ensure that classified 
                                national security models are secure, 
                                responsibly-managed, and safely 
                                implemented in the national interest.
                    (E) Tuning and adaptation of ai models and systems 
                for pressing scientific, applied energy, and national 
                security applications.--In carrying out the component 
                of the program described in subparagraph (A)(iv), the 
                Secretary shall--
                            (i) use AI foundation models and other AI 
                        technologies to develop a multitude of tuned 
                        and adapted downstream models to solve pressing 
                        scientific, applied energy, and national 
                        security challenges;
                            (ii) carry out joint work, including 
                        public-private partnerships, and cooperative 
                        research projects with industry, including end 
                        user companies, hardware systems vendors, and 
                        AI software companies, to advance AI 
                        technologies relevant to the missions of the 
                        Department;
                            (iii) form partnerships with other Federal 
                        agencies, institutions of higher education, and 
                        international organizations aligned with the 
                        interests of the United States to advance 
                        frontier AI systems development and deployment; 
                        and
                            (iv) increase research experiences and 
                        workforce development, including training for 
                        undergraduate and graduate students in frontier 
                        AI for science, energy, and national security.
            (3) Strategic plan.--In carrying out the program, the 
        Secretary shall develop a strategic plan with specific short-
        term and long-term goals and resource needs to advance 
        applications in AI for science, energy, and national security 
        to support the missions of the Department, consistent with--
                    (A) the 2023 National Laboratory workshop report 
                entitled ``Advanced Research Directions on AI for 
                Science, Energy, and Security''; and
                    (B) the 2024 National Laboratory workshop report 
                entitled ``AI for Energy''.
            (4) AI talent.--As part of the program, the Secretary shall 
        develop the required workforce, and hire and train not fewer 
        than 500 new researchers to meet the rising demand for AI 
        talent--
                    (A) with a particular emphasis on expanding the 
                number of individuals from underrepresented groups 
                pursuing and attaining skills relevant to AI; and
                    (B) including by--
                            (i) providing training, grants, and 
                        research opportunities;
                            (ii) carrying out public awareness 
                        campaigns about AI career paths; and
                            (iii) establishing new degree and 
                        certificate programs in AI-related disciplines 
                        at universities and community colleges.
    (b) AI Research and Development Centers.--
            (1) In general.--As part of the program established under 
        subsection (a), the Secretary shall select, on a competitive, 
        merit-reviewed basis, National Laboratories to establish and 
        operate not fewer than 8 multidisciplinary AI Research and 
        Development Centers (referred to in this subsection as 
        ``Centers'')--
                    (A) to accelerate the safe, secure, and trustworthy 
                deployment of AI for science, energy, and national 
                security missions;
                    (B) to demonstrate the use of AI in addressing key 
                challenge problems of national interest in science, 
                energy, and national security; and
                    (C) to maintain the competitive advantage of the 
                United States in AI.
            (2) Considerations for selection.--In selecting National 
        Laboratories under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, to the 
        maximum extent practicable--
                    (A) ensure that at least 1 Center focuses on 
                applied energy activities carried out by the Office of 
                Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Office of 
                Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, or the Office of 
                Nuclear Energy; and
                    (B) consider geographic diversity to leverage 
                resources and facilities of National Laboratories and 
                partners in different regions.
            (3) Focus.--Each Center shall bring together diverse teams 
        from National Laboratories, Department user facilities, 
        academia, and industry to collaboratively and concurrently 
        deploy hardware, software, numerical methods, data, algorithms, 
        and applications for AI and ensure that the frontier AI 
        research of the Department is well-suited for key Department 
        missions, including by using existing and emerging computing 
        systems and datasets to the maximum extent practicable.
            (4) Administration.--
                    (A) National laboratory.--Each Center shall be 
                established as part of a National Laboratory.
                    (B) Application.--To be eligible for selection to 
                establish and operate a Center under paragraph (1), a 
                National Laboratory shall submit to the Secretary an 
                application at such time, in such manner, and 
                containing such information as the Secretary may 
                require.
                    (C) Director.--Each Center shall be headed by a 
                Director, who shall be the Chief Executive Officer of 
                the Center and an employee of the National Laboratory 
                described in subparagraph (A), and responsible for--
                            (i) successful execution of the goals of 
                        the Center; and
                            (ii) coordinating with other Centers.
                    (D) Technical roadmap.--In support of the strategic 
                plan developed under subsection (a)(3), each Center 
                shall--
                            (i) set a research and innovation goal 
                        central to advancing the science, energy, and 
                        national security mission of the Department; 
                        and
                            (ii) establish a technical roadmap to meet 
                        that goal in not more than 7 years.
                    (E) Coordination.--The Secretary shall coordinate, 
                minimize duplication, and resolve conflicts between the 
                Centers.
    (c) AI Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Program.--
            (1) AI risk program.--As part of the program established 
        under subsection (a), and consistent with the missions of the 
        Department, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of 
        National Intelligence, the Director of the National Security 
        Agency, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall carry out a 
        comprehensive program to evaluate and mitigate safety and 
        security risks associated with artificial intelligence systems 
        (referred to in this subsection as the ``AI risk program'').
            (2) Risk taxonomy.--
                    (A) In general.--Under the AI risk program, the 
                Secretary shall develop a taxonomy of safety and 
                security risks associated with artificial intelligence 
                systems and datasets relevant to the missions of the 
                Department, including, at a minimum, the risks 
                described in subparagraph (B).
                    (B) Risks described.--The risks referred to in 
                subparagraph (A) are the abilities of artificial 
                intelligence--
                            (i) to generate information at a given 
                        classification level;
                            (ii) to assist in generation of nuclear 
                        weapons information;
                            (iii) to assist in generation of chemical, 
                        biological, radiological, nuclear, 
                        nonproliferation, critical infrastructure, and 
                        other economic, security, or energy threats;
                            (iv) to assist in generation of malware and 
                        other cyber and adversarial tactics, 
                        techniques, and procedures that pose a 
                        significant national security risk, such as 
                        threatening the stability of critical national 
                        infrastructure;
                            (v) to undermine public trust in the use of 
                        artificial intelligence technologies or in 
                        national security;
                            (vi) to deceive a human operator or 
                        computer system, or otherwise act in opposition 
                        to the goals of a human operator or automated 
                        systems;
                            (vii) to act autonomously with little or no 
                        human intervention in ways that conflict with 
                        human intentions;
                            (viii) to be vulnerable to data compromise 
                        by malicious cyber actors; and
                            (ix) to be vulnerable to other emerging or 
                        unforeseen risk, as determined by the 
                        Secretary.
    (d) Shared Resources for AI.--
            (1) In general.--As part of the program established under 
        subsection (a), the Secretary shall identify, support, and 
        sustain shared resources and enabling tools that have the 
        potential to reduce cost and accelerate the pace of scientific 
        discovery and technological innovation with respect to the 
        missions of the Department relating to science, energy, and 
        national security.
            (2) Consultation.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary shall consult with relevant experts in industry, 
        academia, and the National Laboratories.
            (3) Focus.--Shared resources and enabling tools referred to 
        in paragraph (1) shall include the following:
                    (A) Scientific data and knowledge bases for 
                training AI systems.
                    (B) Benchmarks and competitions for evaluating 
                advances in AI systems.
                    (C) Platform technologies that lower the cost of 
                generating training data or enable the generation of 
                novel training data.
                    (D) High-performance computing, including hybrid 
                computing systems that integrate AI and high-
                performance computing.
                    (E) The combination of AI and scientific 
                automation, such as cloud labs and self-driving labs.
                    (F) Tools that enable AI to solve inverse design 
                problems.
                    (G) Testbeds for accelerating progress at the 
                intersection of AI and cyberphysical systems.
    (e) Administration.--
            (1) Research security.--The activities authorized under 
        this section shall be applied in a manner consistent with 
        subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, 
        Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.).
            (2) Cybersecurity.--The Secretary shall ensure the 
        integration of robust cybersecurity and data security measures 
        into all AI research-to-deployment efforts authorized under 
        this section to protect the integrity and confidentiality of 
        collected and analyzed data.
            (3) Partnerships with private entities.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall seek to 
                establish partnerships with private companies and 
                nonprofit organizations in carrying out this Act, 
                including with respect to the research, development, 
                and deployment of each of the 4 program components 
                described in subsection (a)(2)(A).
                    (B) Requirement.--In carrying out subparagraph (A), 
                the Secretary shall protect any information submitted 
                to or shared by the Department consistent with 
                applicable laws (including regulations).
            (4) Considerations.--In carrying out this section, the 
        Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, consider 
        leveraging existing resources from public and private sectors.
    (f) Annual Report.--The Secretary shall submit to Congress an 
annual report describing--
            (1) the progress, findings, and expenditures under each 
        program established under this section; and
            (2) any legislative recommendations for promoting and 
        improving each of those programs.

SEC. 5. FEDERAL PERMITTING.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program to 
improve Federal permitting processes for energy-related projects, 
including critical materials projects using artificial intelligence.
    (b) Program Components.--In carrying out the program established 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall carry out activities, 
including activities that--
            (1) generate, collect, and analyze data and provide tools 
        from past environmental and other permitting reviews, including 
        by--
                    (A) extracting data from applications for 
                comparison with data relied on in environmental reviews 
                to assess the adequacy and relevance of applications;
                    (B) extracting information from past site-specific 
                analyses in the area of a current project;
                    (C) summarizing key mitigation actions that have 
                been successfully applied in past similar projects; and
                    (D) using AI for deeper reviews of past 
                determinations under the National Environmental Policy 
                Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to inform more 
                flexible and effective categorical exclusions; and
            (2) build tools to improve future reviews, including--
                    (A) tools for project proponents that accelerate 
                preparation of environmental documentation;
                    (B) tools for government reviewers such as domain-
                specific large language models that help convert 
                geographic information system or tabular data on 
                resources potentially impacted into rough-draft 
                narrative documents;
                    (C) tools to be applied in nongovernmental 
                settings, such as automatic reviews of applications to 
                assess the completeness of information; and
                    (D) a strategic plan to implement and deploy online 
                and digital tools to improve Federal permitting 
                activities, developed in consultation with--
                            (i) the Secretary of the Interior;
                            (ii) the Secretary of Agriculture, with 
                        respect to National Forest System land;
                            (iii) the Executive Director of the Federal 
                        Permitting Improvement Steering Council 
                        established by section 41002(a) of the FAST Act 
                        (42 U.S.C. 4370m-1(a)); and
                            (iv) the heads of any other relevant 
                        Federal department or agency, as determined 
                        appropriate by the Secretary.
    (c) Interagency Access.--The Secretary shall make available to 
Federal agencies--
            (1) the code for any artificial intelligence developed in 
        furtherance of the program established under subsection (a);
            (2) the training dataset curated under this section; and
            (3) the particular environmental documents used in that 
        training dataset.

SEC. 6. RULEMAKING ON AI STANDARDIZATION FOR GRID INTERCONNECTION.

    Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall initiate a rulemaking to 
revise the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Procedures 
promulgated pursuant to section 35.28(f) of title 18, Code of Federal 
Regulations (or successor regulations), to require public utility 
transmission providers to share and employ, as appropriate, queue 
management best practices with respect to the use of computing 
technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, or 
automation, in evaluating and processing interconnection requests, in 
order to expedite study results with respect to those requests.

SEC. 7. ENSURING ENERGY SECURITY FOR DATACENTERS AND COMPUTING 
              RESOURCES.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that--
            (1) assesses--
                    (A) the growth of computing data centers and 
                advanced computing electrical power load in the United 
                States;
                    (B) potential risks of growth in computing centers 
                or growth in the required electrical power to United 
                States energy and national security;
                    (C) the national security impacts of computing data 
                centers being manipulated through nefarious means to 
                cause broad impacts to energy reliability; and
                    (D) the extent to which emerging technologies, such 
                as artificial intelligence and advanced computing, may 
                impact hardware and software systems used at data and 
                computing centers; and
            (2) provides recommendations for--
                    (A) resources and capabilities that the Department 
                may provide to promote access to energy resources by 
                data centers and advanced computing;
                    (B) policy changes to ensure domestic deployment of 
                data center and advanced computing resources prevents 
                offshoring of United States data and resources;
                    (C) improving the energy efficiency of data 
                centers, advanced computing, and AI; and
                    (D) enhancing collaboration and resource sharing 
                between National Laboratories and other applicable 
                entities to maximize scientific output and accelerate 
                AI innovation.

SEC. 8. OFFICE OF CRITICAL AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY.

    (a) In General.--Title II of the Department of Energy Organization 
Act is amended by inserting after section 215 (42 U.S.C. 7144b) the 
following:

``SEC. 216. OFFICE OF CRITICAL AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Critical and emerging technology.--The term `critical 
        and emerging technology' means--
                    ``(A) advanced technology that is potentially 
                significant to United States competitiveness, energy 
                security, or national security, such as biotechnology, 
                advanced computing, and advanced manufacturing;
                    ``(B) technology that may address the challenges 
                described in subsection (b) of section 10387 of the 
                Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation 
                Act (42 U.S.C. 19107); and
                    ``(C) technology described in the key technology 
                focus areas described in subsection (c) of that section 
                (42 U.S.C. 19107).
            ``(2) Department capabilities.--The term `Department 
        capabilities' means--
                    ``(A) each of the National Laboratories (as defined 
                in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
                U.S.C. 15801)); and
                    ``(B) each associated user facility of the 
                Department.
            ``(3) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of 
        Critical and Emerging Technology described in subsection (d).
            ``(4) Office.--The term `Office' means the Office of 
        Critical and Emerging Technology established by subsection (b).
    ``(b) Establishment.--There shall be within the Office of the Under 
Secretary for Science and Innovation an Office of Critical and Emerging 
Technology.
    ``(c) Mission.--The mission of the Office shall be--
            ``(1) to work across the entire Department to assess and 
        analyze the status of and gaps in United States 
        competitiveness, energy security, and national security 
        relating to critical and emerging technologies, including 
        through the use of Department capabilities;
            ``(2) to leverage Department capabilities to provide for 
        rapid response to emerging threats and technological surprise 
        from new emerging technologies;
            ``(3) to promote greater participation of Department 
        capabilities within national science policy and international 
        forums; and
            ``(4) to inform the direction of research and policy 
        decisionmaking relating to potential risks of adoption and use 
        of emerging technologies, such as inadvertent or deliberate 
        misuses of technology.
    ``(d) Director of Critical and Emerging Technology.--The Office 
shall be headed by a director, to be known as the `Director of Critical 
and Emerging Technology', who shall--
            ``(1) be appointed by the Secretary; and
            ``(2) be an individual who, by reason of professional 
        background and experience, is specially qualified to advise the 
        Secretary on matters pertaining to critical and emerging 
        technology.
    ``(e) Collaboration.--In carrying out the mission and activities of 
the Office, the Director shall closely collaborate with all relevant 
Departmental entities, including the National Nuclear Security 
Administration, the applied energy offices, and the Office of Science, 
to maximize the computational capabilities of the Department and 
minimize redundant capabilities.
    ``(f) Coordination.--In carrying out the mission and activities of 
the Office, the Director--
            ``(1) shall coordinate with senior leadership across the 
        Department and other stakeholders (such as institutions of 
        higher education and private industry);
            ``(2) shall ensure the coordination of the Office of 
        Science with the other activities of the Department relating to 
        critical and emerging technology, including the transfer of 
        knowledge, capabilities, and relevant technologies, from basic 
        research programs of the Department to applied research and 
        development programs of the Department, for the purpose of 
        enabling development of mission-relevant technologies;
            ``(3) shall support joint activities among the programs of 
        the Department;
            ``(4) shall coordinate with the heads of other relevant 
        Federal agencies operating under existing authorizations with 
        subjects related to the mission of the Office described in 
        subsection (c) in support of advancements in related research 
        areas, as the Director determines to be appropriate; and
            ``(5) may form partnerships to enhance the use of, and to 
        ensure access to, user facilities by other Federal agencies.
    ``(g) Planning, Assessment, and Reporting.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of enactment of the Department of Energy AI Act, the Secretary 
        shall submit to Congress a critical and emerging technology 
        action plan and assessment, which shall include--
                    ``(A) a review of current investments, programs, 
                activities, and science infrastructure of the 
                Department, including under National Laboratories, to 
                advance critical and emerging technologies;
                    ``(B) a description of any shortcomings of the 
                capabilities of the Department that may adversely 
                impact national competitiveness relating to emerging 
                technologies or national security; and
                    ``(C) a budget projection for the subsequent 5 
                fiscal years of planned investments of the Department 
                in each critical and emerging technology, including 
                research and development, infrastructure, pilots, test 
                beds, demonstration projects, and other relevant 
                activities.
            ``(2) Updates.--Every 2 years after the submission of the 
        plan and assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
        submit to Congress--
                    ``(A) an updated emerging technology action plan 
                and assessment; and
                    ``(B) a report that describes the progress made 
                toward meeting the goals set forth in the emerging 
                technology action plan and assessment submitted 
                previously.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Department 
of Energy Organization Act (Public Law 95-91; 91 Stat. 565; 119 Stat. 
764; 133 Stat. 2199) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 215 the following:

``Sec. 216. Office of Critical and Emerging Technology.''.

SEC. 9. OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERINTELLIGENCE REVIEW OF 
              VISITORS AND ASSIGNEES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the congressional intelligence committees;
                    (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
                on Energy and Natural Resources, the Committee on 
                Foreign Relations, the Committee on the Judiciary, the 
                Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
                Senate; and
                    (C) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
                on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Foreign 
                Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee 
                on Homeland Security, and the Committee on 
                Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Country of risk.--The term ``country of risk'' means a 
        country identified in the report submitted to Congress by the 
        Director of National Intelligence in 2024 pursuant to section 
        108B of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3043b) 
        (commonly referred to as the ``Annual Threat Assessment'').
            (3) Covered assignee; covered visitor.--The terms ``covered 
        assignee'' and ``covered visitor'' mean a foreign national from 
        a country of risk that is ``engaging in competitive behavior 
        that directly threatens U.S. national security'', who is not an 
        employee of either the Department or the management and 
        operations contractor operating a National Laboratory on behalf 
        of the Department, and has requested access to the premises, 
        information, or technology of a National Laboratory.
            (4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the 
        Department (or their designee).
            (5) Foreign national.--The term ``foreign national'' has 
        the meaning given the term ``alien'' in section 101(a) of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)).
            (6) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy 
        Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
            (7) Nontraditional intelligence collection threat.--The 
        term ``nontraditional intelligence collection threat'' means a 
        threat posed by an individual not employed by a foreign 
        intelligence service, who is seeking access to information 
        about a capability, research, or organizational dynamics of the 
        United States to inform a foreign adversary or nonstate actor.
    (b) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:
            (1) The National Laboratories conduct critical, cutting-
        edge research across a range of scientific disciplines that 
        provide the United States with a technological edge over other 
        countries.
            (2) The technologies developed in the National Laboratories 
        contribute to the national security of the United States, 
        including classified and sensitive military technology and 
        dual-use commercial technology.
            (3) International cooperation in the field of science is 
        critical to the United States maintaining its leading 
        technological edge.
            (4) The research enterprise of the Department, including 
        the National Laboratories, is increasingly targeted by 
        adversarial nations to exploit military and dual-use 
        technologies for military or economic gain.
            (5) Approximately 40,000 citizens of foreign countries, 
        including more than 8,000 citizens from China and Russia, were 
        granted access to the premises, information, or technology of 
        National Laboratories in fiscal year 2023.
            (6) The Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of 
        the Department is responsible for identifying 
        counterintelligence risks to the Department, including the 
        National Laboratories, and providing direction for the 
        mitigation of such risks.
    (c) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) before being granted access to the premises, 
        information, or technology of a National Laboratory, citizens 
        of foreign countries identified in the 2024 Annual Threat 
        Assessment of the intelligence community as ``engaging in 
        competitive behavior that directly threatens U.S. national 
        security'' should be appropriately screened by the National 
        Laboratory to which they seek access, and by the Office of 
        Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Department, to 
        identify risks associated with granting the requested access to 
        sensitive military, or dual-use technologies; and
            (2) identified risks should be mitigated.
    (d) Review of Country of Risk Covered Visitor and Covered Assignee 
Access Requests.--The Director shall, in consultation with the 
applicable Under Secretary of the Department that oversees the National 
Laboratory, or their designee, promulgate a policy to assess the 
counterintelligence risk that covered visitors or covered assignees 
pose to the research or activities undertaken at a National Laboratory.
    (e) Advice With Respect to Covered Visitors or Covered Assignees.--
            (1) In general.--The Director shall provide advice to a 
        National Laboratory on covered visitors and covered assignees 
        when 1 or more of the following conditions are present:
                    (A) The Director has reason to believe that a 
                covered visitor or covered assignee is a nontraditional 
                intelligence collection threat.
                    (B) The Director is in receipt of information 
                indicating that a covered visitor or covered assignee 
                constitutes a counterintelligence risk to a National 
                Laboratory.
            (2) Advice described.--Advice provided to a National 
        Laboratory in accordance with paragraph (1) shall include a 
        description of the assessed risk.
            (3) Risk mitigation.--When appropriate, the Director shall, 
        in consultation with the applicable Under Secretary of the 
        Department that oversees the National Laboratory, or their 
        designee, provide recommendations to mitigate the risk as part 
        of the advice provided in accordance with paragraph (1).
    (f) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, the Secretary 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report, 
which shall include--
            (1) the number of covered visitors or covered assignees 
        permitted to access the premises, information, or technology of 
        each National Laboratory;
            (2) the number of instances in which the Director provided 
        advice to a National Laboratory in accordance with subsection 
        (e); and
            (3) the number of instances in which a National Laboratory 
        took action inconsistent with advice provided by the Director 
        in accordance with subsection (e).
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section 
for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2032.
                                                       Calendar No. 631

118th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 4664

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to promote 
   the use of artificial intelligence to support the missions of the 
             Department of Energy, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           November 21, 2024

                       Reported with an amendment
```