On June 4, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03) and Congressman Jay Obernolte (R-CA-23), members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released a discussion draft of the Great American AI Act, bipartisan legislation to create a federal framework for how the U.S. will govern artificial intelligence. According to a press release from the Office of Congresswoman Trahan, the act is the product of ongoing bipartisan conversations and builds on the bipartisan House AI Task Force.
The act would formally establish the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) within the Department of Commerce. CAISI would develop voluntary guidelines, identify common or “best” practices, and establish standards for AI security; evaluate AI systems and monitor AI progress; support synthetic content detection tools; and administer a licensing regime for independent verification organizations (IVOs).
To ensure transparency from large developers (>$500 million in revenue), these companies would be required to publish an AI framework that discloses the release date, supported languages, output modalities, intended use, restrictions, risk assessments, and mitigation steps before deploying new AI models. They would also be required to retain a licensed IVO to verify compliance with their published AI framework.
If approved, the act requires guarding AI innovation to be the responsibility of the GAO: it would be required to report on any regulations that directly negatively affect AI innovation or AI infrastructure. GAO would also be responsible for evaluating progress in federal AI adoption and providing legislative and administrative recommendations.
The bill draft would also add penalties for using AI for malicious purposes, such as impersonating a government official. It would increase the penalty from $1 million to $2 million for using AI in mail fraud.
The act calls for significant AI education and capacity building. Specifically, it:
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Directs the NSF director to support the National STEM Teacher Corps pilot and Computer Science for All programs
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Authorizes NSF to make competitive grants to universities and nonprofits for research on AI literacy curriculum, educator professional development, and evaluation tools for K–12 AI literacy
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Directs NSF to establish a grant program for institutions not among the top 100 in federal R&D expenditures to broaden participation in AI research, education, and workforce development
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Authorizes NSF to award scholarships and fellowships for students in AI-related programs
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Directs NSF to designate up to eight regionally scattered "Centers of AI Excellence" at community colleges and career technical education schools. Centers must integrate AI into teaching and workforce development, develop best practices, identify career pathways, and facilitate private sector partnerships.
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Authorizes NSF to award grants to research AI teaching tools, materials, and integration into K–12 classrooms, with emphasis on low-income, rural, and Tribal student populations
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Establishes a Rural and Low-Income Areas AI Collaborative to create regional peer-support networks for educators.
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Adds AI skills development to the National STEM Teacher Corps pilot program and directs consideration of developing AI best practices for high school teachers
State laws regarding the development of AI models would be preempted by this act. However, the act does not preempt laws of general applicability, common law remedies, or laws regulating AI use or deployment.
Stakeholders, researchers, and members of the public are encouraged to submit feedback on the discussion draft to GAAIA@mail.house.gov.