I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5466 
To authorize the Secretary of Defense to establish a National Security and 
Defense Artificial Intelligence Institute, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 
Mr. JACKSON of Texas (for himself, Mr. FALLON, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. NEHLS, 
and Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Defense to establish a National 
Security and Defense Artificial Intelligence Institute, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Growing University 
AI Research for Defense Act’’ or the ‘‘GUARD Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE ARTIFICIAL IN-
TELLIGENCE INSTITUTE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense may es-
tablish at least one National Security and Defense Artifi-
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cial Intelligence Institute (referred to in this section as 
an ‘‘Institute’’) at an eligible host institution. 
(b) INSTITUTE DESCRIBED.—A National Security 
and Defense Artificial Intelligence Institute referred to in 
subsection (a) is an artificial intelligence research institute 
that— 
(1) is focused on a cross-cutting challenge or 
foundational science for artificial intelligence sys-
tems in the national security and defense sector; 
(2) establishes partnerships among public and 
private organizations, including, as appropriate, 
Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, 
including community colleges, nonprofit research or-
ganizations, Federal laboratories, State, local, and 
Tribal governments, and industry, including the De-
fense Industrial Base and startup companies; 
(3) has the potential to create an innovation 
ecosystem, or enhance existing ecosystems, to trans-
late Institute research into applications and products 
used to enhance national security and defense capa-
bilities; 
(4) supports interdisciplinary research and de-
velopment across multiple institutions of higher edu-
cation and organizations; and 
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(5) supports workforce development in artificial 
intelligence related disciplines in the United States. 
(c) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 
may seek to award financial assistance to an eligible 
host institution, or consortia thereof, to establish 
and support one or more Institutes. 
(2) USE
OF
FUNDS.—Financial assistance 
awarded under paragraph (1) may be used by an In-
stitute for— 
(A) managing and making available to re-
searchers accessible, curated, standardized, se-
cure, and privacy protected data sets from the 
public and private sectors for the purposes of 
training and testing artificial intelligence sys-
tems and for research using artificial intel-
ligence systems with regard to national security 
and defense; 
(B) developing and managing testbeds for 
artificial intelligence systems, including sector- 
specific test beds, designed to enable users to 
evaluate artificial intelligence systems prior to 
deployment; 
(C) conducting research and education ac-
tivities involving artificial intelligence systems 
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