AI Security and Innovation Act

AI Security and Innovation Act This bill establishes a Center for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Security and Innovation within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to evaluate and address AI-related security risks. The bill provides statutory authority for many of the functions of NIST’s existing Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence. Under the bill, the center must establish criteria to identify AI systems for evaluation.  The center must enter into voluntary agreements with appropriate entities to evaluate these systems for potential risks to national or economic security. The center must assess systems developed in the United States and in certain foreign adversary nations (i.e., China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia). The center must carry out a program for benchmarking AI capabilities and limitations over time. (A June 2026 executive order directs other federal agencies, in consultation with NIST, to develop a similar, classified benchmarking process to designate AI models that are eligible for voluntary security evaluations.) The center must also support NIST efforts to develop voluntary standards and best practices for measuring and improving AI security generally and for evaluating applicable systems. Further, the center must be included in any interagency process convened by the Executive Office of the President related to AI policy. The bill’s requirements sunset five years after enactment.