Bipartisan Senate bill to establish AI standards, testbeds gets renewed

The legislation would create a testbed program, prize competition, and build upon recommendations from an AI advisory body.

By Madison Alder

February 27, 2026

Listen to this article

0:00

This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment.

Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., attend the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing titled Strengthening Airline Operations and Consumer Protections in Russell Building in February 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

A bill that would launch a variety of federal artificial intelligence actions, such as the development of voluntary guidelines and standards for industry and the public sector, is being reintroduced in the Senate by a bipartisan cohort.

The Future of AI Innovation Act was again introduced on Thursday, according to a press release from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. A previous version of the bill advanced out of the committee by voice vote as part of a package of several pieces of legislation in 2024.

Among the provisions within the new bill, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation — formerly the AI Safety Institute — would be authorized to develop guidance and standards on the technology as well as developing performance benchmarks.

It would also create a testbed program coordinated by NIST, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation. Those testbeds would leverage DOE’s national labs as well as resources at NSF and NIST to evaluate the “capabilities and limitations” of AI systems.

Other provisions in the bill include the creation of a prize competition to incentivize innovation, establishment of a standards coalition with U.S. allies, and directions for federal science agencies to make “curated datasets” publicly available for use in AI applications. Those datasets would include “solutions to global challenges in agriculture, medicine, transportation, manufacturing and more,” per the press release.

The legislation is sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Todd Young, R-Ind., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. It has support already from several industry and advocacy organizations, including the Software & Information Industry Association, the Alliance for Secure AI and Americans for Responsible Innovation.

“This legislation brings together private sector and government experts to develop voluntary standards for AI, create new assessment tools, and conduct testing that will ensure the United States leads in AI-driven innovation and competitiveness for decades to come,” Cantwell said in a statement included in the press release.

Per the press release, the legislation builds on recommendations from the National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC), a panel of outside experts who make recommendations to the government on the technology. Legislation envisioning that panel was also sponsored by Young and Cantwell. NAIAC hasn’t had a public meeting since Trump took office.