HR 7294 AI for Secure Networks Act 2026

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Proposed
• Most recent activity date: 2026-01-30

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• AI system security vulnerabilities

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Cyberattacks, weapon development or use
• Lack of capability or robustness

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document addresses primarily AI system security vulnerabilities (2.2) with good coverage, and cyberattacks/weapon development (4.2) with minimal coverage. The study mandate focuses narrowly on telecommunications network security impacts of AI, including both beneficial security applications and associated risks. Other risk domains are not substantively addressed.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Information

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Trade, Transportation & Utilities
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs the Information sector, specifically telecommunications networks and related security technologies. It mandates a comprehensive study of AI impacts on telecommunications infrastructure, including various network technologies and security applications.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a Congressional bill that, once enacted, creates legally binding obligations on the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study and submit a report to Congress. It uses mandatory language ('shall') throughout and represents formal legislative authority.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress; Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
• Summary: The document is a Congressional bill proposed by the legislative branch, as indicated by the standard legislative enactment formula and bill designation 'HR 7294'.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Developer, AI_Deployer
• Entities: Secretary of Commerce; Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information; Federal Communications Commission; industry stakeholders
• Summary: The primary target is the Secretary of Commerce who must conduct the study. Secondary targets include the FCC and industry stakeholders who must participate in consultations, and AI developers/deployers in telecommunications whose technologies are the subject of study.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress; Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
• Summary: Congress, through its specified committees, enforces compliance by receiving and reviewing the mandatory report. The committees provide oversight to ensure the Secretary fulfills the study and reporting requirements.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; public commenters
• Summary: The Congressional committees monitor implementation by receiving the report, and the public is given opportunity to comment on the report before submission, providing an additional monitoring mechanism.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document addresses multiple AI lifecycle stages with primary focus on Deploy and Operate and Monitor stages, as it examines how AI is used in operational telecommunications networks for real-time threat detection and security. It also covers Build and Use Model through references to research and development activities, and Verify and Validate through discussion of security controls and network segmentation.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document consistently refers to 'artificial intelligence technology' throughout but does not define it or distinguish between different types of AI systems, models, or architectures. There is no mention of frontier AI, general purpose AI, foundation models, generative AI, compute thresholds, or open-source models. The scope is generic AI technology applications in telecommunications security.