A bill to support an interdisciplinary research community for the advancement of artificial intelligence and AI-powered innovation through partnerships and capacity building at certain institutions of higher education and other institutions, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5050 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5050

To support an interdisciplinary research community for the advancement
     of artificial intelligence and AI-powered innovation through
 partnerships and capacity building at certain institutions of higher
       education and other institutions, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 21, 2026

    Ms. Blunt Rochester (for herself and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To support an interdisciplinary research community for the advancement
     of artificial intelligence and AI-powered innovation through
 partnerships and capacity building at certain institutions of higher
       education and other institutions, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Expanding AI Voices through Capacity
Building Act'' or the ``Expanding AI Voices Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDING CAPACITY IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SCIENCE.

    Section 5401 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (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) Expanding Capacity in Artificial Intelligence.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director of the National Science
        Foundation, in consultation with the heads of Federal agencies
        the Director considers appropriate, shall make awards, on a
        competitive, merit-reviewed basis, to eligible entities to
        broaden participation in artificial intelligence research,
        education, and workforce development by strengthening the
        ability of the United States to increase capacity and
        partnerships for artificial intelligence research and
        development.
            ``(2) Collaboration.--In carrying out activities under this
        subsection, a grant recipient may collaborate with--
                    ``(A) institutions of higher education, nonprofit
                organizations, Federal agencies, State, local, Tribal,
                and territorial governments, and private sector
                entities; and
                    ``(B) artificial intelligence research institutes
                established under section 5201 or recipients of other
                relevant awards made by the Foundation.
            ``(3) Use of funds.--An eligible entity shall use grant
        funds under this subsection to carry out one or more of the
        following:
                    ``(A) Development or expansion of research programs
                in artificial intelligence and related disciplines.
                    ``(B) Faculty recruitment and professional
                development in artificial intelligence and related
                disciplines.
                    ``(C) Bridge programs focused on preparing post-
                baccalaureate students for graduate programs in
                artificial intelligence and related disciplines.
                    ``(D) Providing or brokering access to research
                resources, including computing resources, networking,
                data facilities, and software engineering support for
                artificial intelligence research and development.
                    ``(E) Workshops and listening sessions to foster
                mutually beneficial public-private collaboration with
                Federal research agencies, industry, Federal
                laboratories, academia, and nonprofit organizations.
                    ``(F) Development and hosting of intra- or inter-
                institutional workshops to broaden workforce
                participation in artificial intelligence research and
                development.
                    ``(G) Activities to integrate safe, secure, and
                reliable practices and principles into education
                programs in artificial intelligence and related
                disciplines.
                    ``(H) Other activities necessary to build research
                capacity, education pathways, and workforce development
                pathways in artificial intelligence and related
                disciplines.
            ``(4) Outreach.--The Director of the National Science
        Foundation shall--
                    ``(A) conduct outreach to eligible institutions of
                higher education and nonprofit organizations to support
                application for awards under this subsection; and
                    ``(B) engage participants from all regions of the
                United States, including eligible institutions with
                limited artificial intelligence research capacity, to
                support broad participation in artificial intelligence
                research, education, and workforce development.
            ``(5) Duplication.--The Director of the National Science
        Foundation shall ensure that awards made under this subsection
        are complimentary to, and not duplicative of, awards made under
        existing programs.
            ``(6) Additional considerations.--In making awards under
        this subsection, the Director of the National Science
        Foundation may also consider the following:
                    ``(A) The extent to which eligible institutions of
                higher education and nonprofit organizations applying
                for awards under this subsection expand opportunities
                for students to participate in artificial intelligence
                research, education, and workforce development,
                including first-generation undergraduate students.
                    ``(B) The geographic diversity of such institutions
                and organizations.
                    ``(C) Relative resource constraints of such
                institutions and organizations.
            ``(7) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity'
                means--
                            ``(i) an eligible institution of higher
                        education, or a consortium of such
                        institutions; or
                            ``(ii) a consortium that is led by an
                        eligible institution of higher education and
                        includes one or more nonprofit organizations.
                    ``(B) Eligible institution of higher education.--
                The term `eligible institution of higher education'
                means any of the following:
                            ``(i) An institution of higher education,
                        that, according to the data published by the
                        National Center for Science and Engineering
                        Statistics, is not, on average, among the top
                        100 institutions in Federal research and
                        development expenditures during the 3-year
                        period prior to the year of the award
                        concerned.
                            ``(ii) A minority-serving institution,
                        including a historically Black college or
                        university and a Tribal College or University.
                    ``(C) Historically black college or university.--
                The term `historically Black college or university' has
                the meaning given the term `part B institution' in
                section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
                U.S.C. 1061).
                    ``(D) Minority-serving institution.--The term
                `minority-serving institution' means an eligible
                institution under section 371(a) of the Higher
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)).
                    ``(E) Nonprofit organization.--The term `nonprofit
                organization' means an organization which is described
                in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of
                1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such
                code.
                    ``(F) Tribal college or university.--The term
                `Tribal College or University' has the meaning given
                such term in section 316 of the Higher Education Act of
                1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c).''.
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