READ AI Models Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6461 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6461

To direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop
best practices and technical guidance on artificial intelligence model
                 documentation, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 4, 2025

 Ms. McBride (for herself and Mr. Obernolte) introduced the following
   bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and
                               Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop
best practices and technical guidance on artificial intelligence model
                 documentation, 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 ``Resources for Evaluating and
Documenting AI Models'' or the ``READ AI Models Act''.

SEC. 2. RESOURCES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODEL DOCUMENTATION.

    (a) Resources.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to the availability of
        appropriations, the Director of the National Institute of
        Standards and Technology, in consultation with the heads of
        other Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall initiate a pilot
        program to establish a structured template and associated
        technical guidelines for documentation to accompany artificial
        intelligence models and associated data developed and used by
        the public sector or private sector.
            (2) Activities.--Subject to the availability of
        appropriations, in carrying out paragraph (1), the Director
        shall carry out the following:
                    (A) Produce a structured template designed to
                enable a user to document information about an
                artificial intelligence model and associated data,
                which may include the following information:
                            (i) The name of such model.
                            (ii) The identification of the developer of
                        such model.
                            (iii) The identification of the location
                        where such developer is incorporated.
                            (iv) The release date of such model.
                            (v) The knowledge cutoff date for such
                        model's training data.
                            (vi) Languages supported by such model.
                            (vii) Terms of service of such model.
                            (viii) Any other information the Director
                        determines appropriate.
                    (B) Ensure such template is modular in nature, such
                that users can flexibly adopt and complete sections,
                categories, or other similar components of such
                template in accordance with a specific use case,
                including relating to sector-specific needs, intended
                audiences, and a set of desired characteristics.
                    (C) Provide detailed technical guidelines
                accompanying such template that--
                            (i) make available relevant metrics or
                        benchmarks for each component of such template
                        for a range of artificial intelligence model
                        types, as applicable; and
                            (ii) incorporate voluntary consensus-based
                        technical standards and industry best
                        practices, as appropriate.
            (3) Stakeholder input.--In carrying out paragraph (2), the
        Director shall carry out the following:
                    (A) Collaborate with private sector entities,
                institutions of higher education, nonprofit
                organizations, international standards organizations,
                and Federal agencies, as the Director determines
                appropriate, including conducting periodic outreach to
                such entities, institutions, organizations, and
                agencies.
                    (B) Publish in the Federal Register a draft of the
                structured template and associated technical guidelines
                referred to in paragraph (1), and provide an
                opportunity for submission of public comments for a
                period of not less than 60 days to be considered for
                incorporation into such template and guidelines.
            (4) Reporting and publication.--Not later than 12 months
        after the date on which the Director establishes the pilot
        program pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director shall carry out
        the following:
                    (A) Submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and
                Technology of the House of Representatives and the
                Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
                the Senate a report that includes the following:
                            (i) An assessment on the effectiveness of
                        such pilot program.
                            (ii) If so assessed to be effective, a plan
                        for permanent implementation, including
                        relating to administration, of such pilot
                        program.
                    (B) Make publicly available on the website of the
                National Institute of Standards and Technology the
                structured template and associated technical guidelines
                referred to in paragraph (1), including the
                incorporation of any appropriate comments in accordance
                with paragraph (3)(B).
            (5) Definitions.--In this Act:
                    (A) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the
                Director of the National Institute of Standards and
                Technology.
                    (B) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial
                intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in
                section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence
                Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).
                    (C) Artificial intelligence model.--The term
                ``artificial intelligence model'' means a software
                component of an information system that implements
                artificial intelligence technology and uses
                computational, statistical, or machine-learning
                techniques to produce outputs from a defined set of
                inputs.
                    (D) Institution of higher education.--The term
                ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning
                given such term in section 101(a) of the Higher
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
                    (E) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit
                organization'' means an organization 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) International standards organization.--The term
                ``international standards organization'' has the
                meaning given such term in section 451 of the Trade
                Agreements Act of 1979 (19 U.S.C. 2571).
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