National Programmable Cloud Laboratories Network Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3468 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3468

  To establish a national programmable cloud laboratories network to
  enhance research efficiency, innovation, and collaboration, and for
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 11, 2025

Mr. Fetterman (for himself and Mr. Budd) introduced the following bill;
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To establish a national programmable cloud laboratories network to
  enhance research efficiency, innovation, and collaboration, 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 ``National Programmable Cloud
Laboratories Network Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial
        intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in section 5002
        of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9401).
            (2) Director.--Unless otherwise provided, the term
        ``Director'' means the Director of the National Science
        Foundation.
            (3) Institution of higher education.--The term
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (4) Network.--The term ``Network'' means the National
        Programmable Cloud Laboratories Network.
            (5) Node.--The term ``node'' means a programmable cloud
        laboratory designated as part of the Network.
            (6) Non-designated laboratory.--The term ``non-designated
        laboratory'' means any Federal, academic, nonprofit, or private
        industry programmable cloud laboratory not selected as a node
        under section 3.
            (7) Programmable cloud laboratory.--The term ``programmable
        cloud laboratory'' means a physical laboratory that is equipped
        with research instrumentation and advanced manufacturing
        capabilities, including robotics and artificial intelligence,
        that can be securely and remotely programmed and controlled in
        order to conduct experiments and collect associated data.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL PROGRAMMABLE CLOUD LABORATORIES NETWORK.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of the Network established under this
Act are--
            (1) to maintain leadership by the United States in advanced
        experimentation, laboratory automation, and artificial
        intelligence for scientific research, advanced manufacturing,
        long-term economic competitiveness, and national security;
            (2) to reduce the cost of federally funded research through
        automation and reproducibility;
            (3) to accelerate national competitiveness by transferring
        government-funded research to private-sector commercial
        applications;
            (4) to improve collaboration among federally funded
        national laboratories, institutions of higher education, and
        private industry;
            (5) to ensure that investment in programmable cloud
        laboratories results in measurable cost savings, efficiencies,
        and long-term fiscal sustainability;
            (6) to incentivize private-sector cost-sharing in research
        infrastructure and equipment;
            (7) to support workforce development aligned with the
        technical needs of industry in the United States;
            (8) to advance the development of a domestic industrial
        base for scientific automation tools, artificial intelligence
        systems for experimentation, and robotics platforms for use in
        laboratory settings; and
            (9) to further programmable cloud laboratory research in
        areas such as materials science, biotechnology, chemistry, and
        other scientific or engineering disciplines where automation
        and cloud-enabled experimentation can deliver transformative
        results, including advanced materials synthesis and
        characterization, scalable biotechnology experimentation, and
        high-throughput chemical catalyst development.
    (b) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
        enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation with the
        Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
        shall designate and oversee a National Programmable Cloud
        Laboratories Network of not more than 6 nodes to support
        secure, standards-based, and cost-effective remote
        experimentation and automated research.
            (2) Assessment sequencing.--The assessment required under
        section 5 shall be conducted only after the final designation
        of nodes under paragraph (1).
            (3) Nodes.--The Network shall consist of nodes that--
                    (A) enable programmable workflows and automated
                science;
                    (B) provide access to advanced scientific and
                manufacturing instruments, including artificial
                intelligence-enabled tools;
                    (C) collaborate to establish and adopt common
                standards, protocols, and best practices; and
                    (D) support interoperability across and between
                nodes.
    (c) Application and Selection.--
            (1) In general.--The Director shall issue a public
        solicitation for eligible entities to apply for node
        designation.
            (2) Eligible entities.--Eligible entities that may apply
        for designation as a node include--
                    (A) institutions of higher education;
                    (B) nonprofit research organizations;
                    (C) private-sector research entities; and
                    (D) consortia or collaborations of the entities
                described in subparagraphs (A) through (C).
    (d) Applications for Designation.--An eligible entity that desires
to apply for designation as a node in the Network shall submit an
application to the Director at such time and in such manner as the
Director may require. The application shall include--
            (1) a technical and programmatic plan for laboratory
        operations, automation capabilities, and data integration;
            (2) a plan to achieve long-term self-sustainability,
        including metrics, interim milestones, and a timeline for
        reducing reliance on Federal funding; and
            (3) evidence of non-Federal cost share, private capital, or
        other third-party contributions demonstrating self-
        sustainability potential.
    (e) Evaluation of Applicants.--The Director shall ensure that the
process for selecting eligible entities for designation in the Network
shall be competitive, merit-reviewed, and transparent, evaluating--
            (1) pre-existing laboratory infrastructure and suitability
        for automated science;
            (2) capacity to support distributed, cloud-enabled
        programmable workflows for multiple users;
            (3) likelihood of achieving long-term sustainability
        without continued Federal funding;
            (4) demonstrated ability to collaborate with other nodes,
        academic partners, industry partners, or other Federal research
        agencies (as defined in section 10002 of the Research and
        Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C.
        18901));
            (5) protocols for research security, cybersecurity, and
        responsible access; and
            (6) demonstration of user interest and research needs.
    (f) Designation.--In designating nodes, the Director shall provide
preference for applications demonstrating meaningful third-party cost
share and pre-existing infrastructure.
    (g) Responsibilities.--Each node selected by the Director shall--
            (1) support the purposes described in subsection (a)(9);
            (2) facilitate collaboration among Network members to
        expand and integrate automated science capabilities and best
        practices;
            (3) actively participate with the Director of National
        Institute of Standards and Technology in developing network-
        wide interoperability, data-sharing, cybersecurity, and
        artificial intelligence-assisted experimentation standards;
            (4) support secure sharing of experimental data, models,
        and results across institutions of higher education
        participating in the Network, if applicable;
            (5) provide a secure digital infrastructure to enable
        remote experimentation, artificial intelligence-assisted
        analysis, and reproducible science;
            (6) engage in public-private partnerships to streamline the
        transfer of technology developed using Network infrastructure;
            (7) develop and maintain a financial sustainability plan to
        reduce long-term reliance on Federal funds, including through
        user fees, licensing, consortia membership, or other revenue-
        generating models;
            (8) establish performance metrics, including scientific
        output, cost-effectiveness, academic engagement, private-sector
        engagement, user satisfaction, and reproducibility of results;
        and
            (9) where practicable, leverage commercially available
        hardware and software solutions to minimize cost and accelerate
        deployment of automated science capabilities.

SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION.

    Not later than 180 days after all nodes of the Network are
designated, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, in cooperation with the Director and participating eligible
entities (including institutions of higher education), shall--
            (1) develop and promulgate standards to ensure
        interoperability across Network nodes, including laboratory
        instrumentation, data infrastructure, communication protocols,
        and experiment execution systems;
            (2) establish protocols for secure, seamless, and
        standardized data-sharing among all members of the Network
        aligned with node-level cybersecurity and research security
        protocols;
            (3) define minimum technical requirements and operating
        procedures to support remote experimentation, experiment
        reproducibility, and artificial intelligence-assisted
        workflows; and
            (4) periodically update such standards in consultation with
        private-sector partners and nodes of the Network to reflect
        advancements in hardware, software, and automation technology.

SEC. 5. ASSESSMENT OF NON-DESIGNATED LABORATORIES.

    (a) Assessment Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the
Director designates the final node of the Network under section 3, the
Director, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Director
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall conduct
and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress, a comprehensive
assessment of non-designated laboratories.
    (b) Scope.--The assessment shall identify, to the extent
practicable--
            (1) Federal laboratories, institutions of higher education,
        nonprofit organizations, and private-sector laboratories that
        possess or are developing programmable, automated, or remotely
        accessible research infrastructure;
            (2) the instrumentation, automation, and data capabilities
        of such laboratories;
            (3) cybersecurity and research security measures relevant
        to interoperability;
            (4) existing or potential pathways for such laboratories to
        coordinate with Network nodes in areas such as data-sharing,
        standards adoption, or pilot interoperability projects; and
            (5) legal, contractual, or intellectual property
        considerations that may affect participation.
    (c) Confidentiality and Security.--Proprietary information shall be
protected from public disclosure consistent with applicable law. The
Director shall publish a nonproprietary public summary of the
assessment and may submit a proprietary annex to the congressional
committees of jurisdiction.

SEC. 6. REPORTING AND OVERSIGHT.

    (a) Annual Briefings.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Director shall
brief the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House
of Representatives on the status of the Network.
    (b) Contents.--Each briefing required under subsection (a) shall
include an assessment of--
            (1) the alignment of supported research with national
        scientific and economic priorities;
            (2) the progress each node of the Network has made toward
        achieving self-sustainability as described in section 3(d)(2);
        and
            (3) the performance metrics established in section 3(g)(8).

SEC. 7. SUNSET.

    The National Programmable Cloud Laboratories Network, including all
authorities, programs, and funding provided under this Act, shall
terminate on September 30, 2031.
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