[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9334 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9334
To amend the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 to
facilitate the growth of multidisciplinary teams that can advance the
development and training of safe and trustworthy artificial
intelligence systems, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 18, 2026
Ms. Lofgren (for herself and Mr. Lucas) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 to
facilitate the growth of multidisciplinary teams that can advance the
development and training of safe and trustworthy artificial
intelligence systems, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Workforce for AI Trust Act''.
SEC. 2. NSF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION; NIST
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE GOVERNANCE WORKFORCE.
(a) Definition.--Section 5002 of the National Artificial
Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401; enacted as part of
title LIV of division E of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283)) is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(12) National laboratory.--The term `National Laboratory'
has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).''.
(b) Fellowships.--Subsection (e) of section 5401 of the National
Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9451) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in the heading, by striking ``faculty''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(D) Interdisciplinary artificial intelligence
fellowships.--
``(i) In general.--The Director of the
National Science Foundation may support
graduate and postdoctoral research fellowships
for students and postdoctoral researchers from
across disciplines, including social science
disciplines and the humanities, by making
awards through eligible institutions of higher
education for research and related activities
related to the trustworthy design, development,
training, deployment, evaluation, and
understanding of artificial intelligence.
``(ii) Use of awards.--An institution of
higher education that receives an award under
clause (i) to support graduate and postdoctoral
research fellowships for students and
postdoctoral researchers described in such
clause shall use such award for any of the
following, as the case may be:
``(I) For graduate fellowships,
tuition, education-related fees, and
stipends for up to three academic
years.
``(II) For postdoctoral
fellowships, salaries, benefits,
relocation costs, related conference
travels, and research expenses for up
to three years.
``(III) Such other expenses as the
Director of the National Science
Foundation determines appropriate.
``(iii) Eligibility.--To be eligible to
receive an award under clause (i) to support
graduate and postdoctoral research fellowships
for students and postdoctoral researchers
described in such clause, an institution of
higher education applying for such an award
shall ensure such students and postdoctoral
researchers satisfy the following:
``(I) Are citizens, nationals, or
lawful permanent residents of the
United States.
``(II) Demonstrate a commitment to
a career in research into fields and
research areas that will contribute to
the development and deployment of
trustworthy artificial intelligence
systems, including in areas of
security, safety, reliability, or other
aspects of artificial intelligence
trustworthiness as established by the
National Institute of Standards and
Technology pursuant to section 22A of
the National Institute of Standards and
Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h-1).
``(III) For graduate fellowships,
are--
``(aa) full-time students
in an eligible program at the
institution of higher
education, as determined by the
Director of the National
Science Foundation; or
``(bb) students pursuing a
degree on a less than full-time
basis, but not less than half-
time basis, in an eligible
program at the institution of
higher education, as determined
by the Director.
``(IV) For postdoctoral
fellowships, have a doctoral degree in
an eligible program, as determined by
the Director, have received such degree
not earlier than five years before the
date that such fellowship begins, and
have a postdoctoral appointment at a
host institution.
``(iv) Application.--An institution of
higher education that seeks an award under
clause (i) shall submit to the Director of the
National Science Foundation an application at
such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Director may require. At a
minimum, the Director shall require such an
application to include a description of the
following:
``(I) How the proposed research and
activities are designed to contribute
to the development and deployment of
trustworthy artificial intelligence
systems, including ways to design,
train, evaluate, and understand such
systems.
``(II) How the students and
postdoctoral researchers described in
clause (i) who are the subject of such
application will be integrated with
artificial intelligence researchers at
such institution in a role consistent
with being a member of an
interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary
team.
``(III) How such institution plans
to disseminate to the broader
artificial intelligence systems
research community any research
findings, learned best practices, or
technical solutions that are the
outcome of such an award.
``(vi) Administrative agreements.--
Fellowships supported by an award under clause
(i) may include temporary artificial
intelligence-related positions at Federal or
State agencies, National Laboratories, private
sector entities, institutions of higher
education, the Institute, or other artificial
intelligence relevant entities, as determined
appropriate by the Director of the National
Science Foundation.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(4) Artificial intelligence skills-based training across
the national science foundation.--The Director of the National
Science Foundation shall seek to encourage the application of
artificial intelligence systems to accelerate scientific
discovery and technology development across all fields of STEM
supported by the Foundation, including by supporting the
following:
``(A) Training for undergraduate and graduate
students and postdoctoral researchers through existing
technical and skills-based training or certification
programs, and, as appropriate, by providing for
additional experiential learning experiences.
``(B) Development and hosting of intra or inter-
institutional workshops on the application of
trustworthy artificial intelligence systems to new uses
in research, development, demonstration, testing,
dissemination, and evaluation.
``(C) Administrative and award supplements to
existing research awards to support professional
development experiences for graduate students and
postdoctoral researchers who receive a substantial
portion of the support of such students and researchers
in connection with such research awards to learn how to
apply artificial intelligence systems to the research
of such students and researchers, as determined by the
Director.''.
(c) Workshops.--Subsection (d) of section 5401 of the National
Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9451) is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) Workshops.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation may make awards for the development and hosting of
intra- or inter-institutional workshops to facilitate the
growth of multidisciplinary teams that can advance the
development and training of trustworthy artificial intelligence
systems.''.
(d) Peer Review Panels.--Section 5401 of the National Artificial
Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9451) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new
subsection:
``(g) Peer Review Panels.--As practicable and appropriate, the
Director of the National Science Foundation shall ensure any merit
review panel convened to evaluate a proposal related to artificial
intelligence systems research and related activities integrates
perspectives from multiple and diverse research disciplines, including
researchers from social science, technology ethics, normative ethics,
legal, and linguistic disciplines.''.
SEC. 3. NIST ACTIVITIES TO DESCRIBE AND SUPPORT THE ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE WORKFORCE.
(a) Authorities to Support Workforce Frameworks.--Subsection (b) of
section 2 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15
U.S.C. 272) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (12), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(14) to provide industry, government, and research,
nonprofit, and educational institutions with workforce
frameworks for critical and emerging technologies and other
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics domains for
the purpose of bolstering scientific and technical education,
training, and workforce development.''.
(b) NIST Activities to Support the Artificial Intelligence
Governance Workforce.--Section 22A of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h-1) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (5) as
paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following
new paragraph:
``(3) support education and workforce development
activities to expand the artificial intelligence workforce,
including careers related to helping organizations govern, map,
measure, and manage artificial intelligence related risk,
including testing, evaluation, verification, and validation of
artificial intelligence;''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(i) Definition.--In this section, the term `artificial
intelligence' has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the
National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C.
9401).''.
(c) Artificial Intelligence Workforce Framework.--
(1) In general.--Title LIII of the National Artificial
Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9441 et seq.) is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 5304. NIST ACTIVITIES TO CATEGORIZE THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
WORKFORCE.
``(a) In General.--The Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor,
the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Director of the
Office of Personnel Management, and the heads of other Federal
departments and agencies, as appropriate, shall develop fundamental
reference resources for describing and sharing information regarding
work related to artificial intelligence to address workforce gaps.
``(b) Activities.--
``(1) In general.--In carrying out subsection (a), the
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
shall carry out the following:
``(A) Develop and periodically update an artificial
intelligence workforce framework, which shall include
the following components:
``(i) A common, consistent lexicon to
describe artificial intelligence employment-
related activities by work role, competency
area, or other categorization, as appropriate.
``(ii) A description of the tasks,
knowledge, or skills that are needed to perform
artificial intelligence work.
``(B) Support interoperability and avoid
unnecessary duplication of the such components of such
framework with components in other workforce
frameworks, including the National Initiative for
Cybersecurity Education Cybersecurity Workforce
Framework or successor framework.
``(C) Develop guidelines regarding how to use the
artificial intelligence workforce framework under
subparagraph (A) for different aspects of workforce
development, education, and training purposes.
``(D) Support external use of such framework,
including relating to the following:
``(i) The development of technical
guidelines and best practices related to the
artificial intelligence workforce, or
dissemination of existing related guidelines,
as appropriate.
``(ii) Outreach and dissemination to
artificial intelligence programs at all
education levels of such framework to prepare
and improve a skilled artificial intelligence
workforce for the public and private sectors.
``(2) Stakeholder input.--In carrying out this subsection,
the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology shall seek input from the following:
``(A) Federal departments and agencies.
``(B) State, local, Tribal, and territorial
governments.
``(C) Industry.
``(D) Institutions of higher education.
``(E) National Laboratories.
``(F) Labor organizations.
``(G) Non-profit organizations.
``(c) Supporting Efforts to Identify and Address Federal Artificial
Intelligence Workforce Gaps.--The Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology shall use the artificial intelligence
workforce framework under subsection (b)(1)(A) to provide technical
assistance to the following:
``(1) The Director of the National Science Foundation, in
developing criteria to designate qualified institutions of
higher education for the Federal AI Scholarship-for-Service
Program under section 10313(d) of the Research and Development,
Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18993(d)).
``(2) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management,
to align the appropriate