February 25, 2026
Mr. Hernández (for himself, Mr. Liccardo, and Mrs. Grijalva) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
To establish a grant program to provide awards to National Laboratories and institutions of higher education to develop secure artificial intelligence (AI) cyber-physical testbeds to simulate grid-scale cyberattacks, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the AI Cyber Grid Protection Resilient Development Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Grant program to secure artificial intelligence (AI) cyber-physical testbeds to simulate grid-scale cyberattacks
(a) In general
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly establish a grant program to provide awards for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to eligible entities to develop secure artificial intelligence (AI) cyber-physical testbeds to simulate grid-scale cyberattacks and train AI models safely.
(b) Reports
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter through 2031, the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall jointly submit to Congress a report detailing evolving threats, AI mitigation progress, and recommendations for further legislative or regulatory action relating to grid-scale cyberattacks.
(c) Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to make grants under subsection (a).
(d) Definitions
In this section:
(1) AI; artificial intelligence
The terms AI
and artificial intelligence
have the meaning given the term artificial intelligence
in section 238(g) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 115–232).
(2) Eligible entity
The term eligible entity
means any of the following:
(A)
An institution of higher education (as such term is defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))), including any of the following:
(i)
A public college or university.
(ii)
A community college.
(iii)
A Hispanic-serving institution (as such term is defined in section 502 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a)).
(B)
A National Laboratory (as such term is defined in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)).
(C)
A consortium comprised of one or more entities specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B).