I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7434 
To authorize the Director of the National Science Foundation to identify 
grand challenges and award competitive prizes for artificial intelligence 
research and development. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 9, 2026 
Mr. LIEU (for himself and Mr. OBERNOLTE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To authorize the Director of the National Science Founda-
tion to identify grand challenges and award competitive 
prizes for artificial intelligence research and development. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AI Grand Challenges 
Act of 2026’’. 
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SEC. 2. PRIZE COMPETITIONS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTEL-
LIGENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) DEFINITION.—Except as otherwise expressly pro-
vided, in this section the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Di-
rector of the National Science Foundation. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, 
in coordination with the National Artificial Intel-
ligence Advisory Committee, shall establish a pro-
gram to award prizes, utilizing the authorities and 
processes established under section 24 of the Steven-
son-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 
U.S.C. 3719), to eligible participants as determined 
by the Director pursuant to subsection (e) to stimu-
late artificial intelligence research, development, and 
commercialization that solves or advances specific, 
well-defined, and measurable grand challenges in 1 
or more of the following categories: 
(A) National security. 
(B) Cybersecurity. 
(C) Health. 
(D) Energy. 
(E) Environment. 
(F) Transportation. 
(G) Agriculture and rural development. 
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(H) Education and workforce training. 
(I) Manufacturing. 
(J) Space and aerospace. 
(K) Quantum computing, including molec-
ular modeling and simulation. 
(L) Materials science. 
(M) Supply chain resilience. 
(N) Disaster preparedness. 
(O) Natural resources management. 
(P) Cross-cutting challenges in artificial 
intelligence, 
including 
robustness, 
interpretability, 
explainability, 
transparency, 
safety, privacy, content provenance, and bias 
mitigation. 
(2) DESIGNATION.—The grand challenges and 
prize competition program established under para-
graph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘AI Grand Chal-
lenges Program’’. 
(3) ROTATORS.—Participants in the Rotator 
Program of the National Science Foundation may 
support the development and implementation of the 
AI Grand Challenges Program. 
(c) GRAND CHALLENGES SELECTION AND GRAND 
CHALLENGES INFORMATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.— 
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(A) CONSULTATION
ON
IDENTIFICATION 
AND
SELECTION.—The Director shall consult 
with the Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy, and may consult with the 
Director of the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology, the Director of the Defense 
Advanced Research Projects Agency, the heads 
of relevant Federal agencies, and the National 
Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee, to 
identify and select artificial intelligence research 
and development grand challenges in which eli-
gible participants will compete to solve or ad-
vance for prize awards under subsection (b). 
(B) PUBLIC INPUT ON IDENTIFICATION.— 
The Director shall also seek public input on the 
identification of artificial intelligence research 
and development grand challenges. 
(2) 
PROBLEM
STATEMENTS; 
SUCCESS 
METRICS.—For each grand challenge selected under 
paragraph (1) and the grand challenge under para-
graph (3), the Director shall— 
(A) establish a specific and well-defined 
grand challenge problem statement and ensure 
that such problem statement is published on the 
National Science Foundation website linking 
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out to relevant prize competition listings on the 
website Challenge.gov that is managed by the 
General Services Administration; and 
(B) establish and publish on the website 
Challenge.gov clear targets, the challenge proc-
ess (which may include a multi-stage process), 
success metrics, and validation protocols for the 
prize competitions designed to address each 
grand challenge, in order to provide specific 
benchmarks that will be used to evaluate sub-
missions to the prize competition. 
(3) GRAND CHALLENGE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTEL-
LIGENCE-ENABLED CANCER BREAKTHROUGHS.— 
(A) REQUIRED PRIZE COMPETITION.—Not 
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Director, in consultation with the 
Director of the Office of Science and Tech-
nology Policy and the Director of the National 
Institutes of Health, shall establish not less 
than 1 grand challenge in which eligible partici-
pants will compete in a prize competition to 
solve or advance solutions for prize awards 
under subsection (b) that seek to advance med-
ical breakthroughs to address 1 or more of the 
most lethal forms of cancer and related 
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comorbidities. The grand challenge shall relate 
to detection, diagnostics, treatments, thera-
peutics, or other innovations in artificial intel-
ligence to increase the total quality-adjusted life 
years of those affected or likely to be affected 
by cancer. 
(B) PRIZE AMOUNT.—In carrying out the 
prize competition under subparagraph (A), the 
Director shall award not less than $10,000,000 
in cash prize awards to each winner. 
(4) AMBITIOUS
AND
ACHIEVABLE
GOALS.— 
Grand challenges selected under paragraph (1) and 
the grand challenge under paragraph (3) shall be 
ambitious but achievable goals that utilize science, 
technology, and innovation to solve or advance solu-
tions to problems to benefit the United States. 
(d) ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION.—The Director may 
consult with, and incorporate effective practices from, 
other entities that have developed successful large-scale 
technology demonstration prize competitions, including 
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, other Fed-
eral agencies, private sector enterprises, and nonprofit or-
ganizations, in the development and implementation of the 
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AI Grand Challenges Program and related prize competi-
tions, including on the requirements under subsection (e). 
(e) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall develop 
requirements for— 
(A) the prize competition process, includ-
ing eligibility criteria for participants, con-
sistent with the requirements under paragraph 
(2); and 
(B) testing, judging, and verification pro-
cedures for submissions to receive a prize award 
under the AI Grand Challenges Program. 
(2) ELIGIBILITY
REQUIREMENT
AND
JUDG-
ING.— 
(A) ELIGIBILITY.—In accordance with the 
requirement described in section 24(g)(3) of the 
Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 
1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719(g)(3)), a recipient of a 
prize award under the AI Grand Challenges 
Program— 
(i) that is a private entity shall be in-
corporated in and maintain a primary 
place of business in the United States; and 
(ii) who is an individual, whether par-
ticipating singly or in a group, shall be a 
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citizen or permanent resident of the United 
States. 
(B) JUDGES.—In accordance with section 
24(k) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology In-
novation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719(k)), a 
judge of a prize competition under the AI 
Grand Challenges Program may be an indi-
vidual from the private sector. 
(f) PRIZE AMOUNT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In carrying out the AI 
Grand Challenges Program, the Director— 
(A) shall award not less than $1,000,000 
in cash prize awards to each winner of the prize 
competitions, except as provided in subsection 
(c)(3); and 
(B) may also utilize non-cash awards. 
(2) LARGER
AWARDS.—The Director may 
award prizes under the AI Grand Challenges Pro-
gram that are more than $50,000,000, pursuant to 
the requirements under section 24(m)(4)(A) of the 
Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 
1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719(m)(4)(A)). 
(g) FUNDING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with section 
24(m)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno-
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vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719(m)(1)), the Di-
rector may request and accept funds from other 
Federal agencies, State, United States territory, 
local, or Tribal government agencies, for-profit enti-
ties, and nonprofit entities to support the AI Grand 
Challenges Program. 
(2) PROHIBITION ON CONSIDERATION FOR SUP-
PORT.—The Director may not consider any support 
provided by an agency or entity under paragraph (1) 
in determining the winners of prize awards under 
subsection (b). 
(h) REPORTS.— 
(1) NOTIFICATION OF WINNING SUBMISSION.— 
Not later than 60 days after the date on which a 
prize is awarded under the AI Grand Challenges 
Program, the Director shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
the Senate, the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives, and 
other relevant committees of Congress a report that 
describes the winning submission to the prize com-
petition and its benefits to the United States. 
(2) BIENNIAL REPORT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and bi-
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ennially thereafter, the Director shall submit to 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives, and other relevant committees 
of Congress a report that includes— 
(i) a description of the activities car-
ried out under this Act; 
(ii) a description of the active com-
petitions and the results of completed com-
petitions under the AI Grand Challenges 
Program; and 
(iii) efforts to provide information to 
the public about the AI Grand Challenges 
Program to encourage participation. 
(B) PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY.—The Director 
shall make the biennial report required under 
subparagraph (A) publicly accessible, including 
by posting the biennial report on the website of 
the National Science Foundation in an easily 
accessible location. 
(i) ACCESSIBILITY.—In carrying out 
the AI Grand Challenges Program, the Di-
rector shall post the active prize competi-
tions and available prize awards under 
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subsection (b) to Challenge.gov after the 
grand challenges are selected and the prize 
competitions are designed pursuant to sub-
sections (c) and (e) to ensure the prize 
competitions are widely accessible to eligi-
ble participants. 
SEC. 3. COORDINATION ON FEDERAL PUBLICATION OF 
GRAND CHALLENGE DATA SETS. 
The Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy shall coordinate Federal agencies that fund science 
to identify and publish data sets for grand challenges 
that— 
(1) address foundational scientific problems 
that if addressed would significantly advance sci-
entific understanding; and 
(2) can be addressed through innovation from 
the use of artificial intelligence. 
Æ 
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