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
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.
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 Laboratoryhas 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 intelligencehas 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:
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 roles, knowledge, skills, abilities, and tasks specified in such framework with the activities described in section 105 of the AI in Government Act (title I of division U of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260)).
(d) Publication
Not later than one year after the development of the artificial intelligence workforce framework under subsection (b)(1)(A), the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate such framework and make such framework publicly available on the website of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
(e) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Artificial intelligence system
The term
artificial intelligence systemmeans any data system, software, hardware, application, tool, service, or utility that operates in whole or in part using artificial intelligence.(2) Labor organization
The term
labor organizationhas the meaning given such term in section 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(5)), except that such term shall also include the following:(A)
Any organization composed of labor organizations, such as a labor union federation or a State or municipal labor body.
(B)
Any organization which would be included in the definition for such term under such section, but for the fact that the organization represents individuals—
(i)
employed by the United States, any wholly owned Government corporation, any Federal Reserve Bank, or any State or political subdivision thereof;
(ii)
employed by persons subject to the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); or
(iii)
employed as agricultural laborers.
(3) Non-profit organization
The term
non-profit organizationmeans an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code.(4) Technical standard
The term
technical standardhas the meaning given such term in section 12(d)(5) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note).(5) Workforce framework
The term
workforce frameworkmeans a common taxonomy and lexicon for any given domain that includes the building blocks of tasks, knowledge, or skills that can be structured to form work roles or competency areas.
(2) Clerical amendments
The tables of contents in section 2(b) and title LIII of division E of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 are amended by inserting after the item relating to section 5303 the following new item: Sec. 5304. NIST activities to categorize the artificial intelligence workforce.
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