HR 6848 Detecting and Evaluating Foreign Exploitation of Novel Drones Act 2025

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Proposed
• Most recent activity date: 2025-12-18

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
• Disinformation, surveillance, and influence at scale
• Cyberattacks, weapon development or use
• AI possessing dangerous capabilities
• Multi-agent risks

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

• Compromise of privacy
• Competitive dynamics
• Lack of capability or robustness

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has good coverage of approximately 6-7 subdomains, with strong focus on malicious actors (4.1, 4.2), AI system security (2.2), dangerous AI capabilities (7.2), and multi-agent risks (7.6). Coverage is concentrated in security, weapons development, and malicious use of AI-enabled drones by foreign adversaries and terrorist organizations.

Sector coverage

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

• Public Administration (excl. National Security)
• National Security

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

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Trade, Transportation & Utilities
• Information
• Professional & Technical Services
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Arts, Entertainment & Recreation

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs National Security operations, with substantial coverage of Public Administration (homeland security and law enforcement). It establishes assessment and preparedness requirements for federal, state, and local government entities to counter terrorism threats from AI-enabled unmanned aircraft systems.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding Congressional Act with mandatory legal requirements imposed on the Secretary of Homeland Security, using mandatory language throughout ('shall submit', 'shall develop', 'shall provide') and establishing formal enforcement through Congressional oversight and reporting requirements.

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 begins with the enactment clause identifying Congress as the legislative body proposing and enacting this Act. The bill is formally introduced as HR 6848.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Deployer
• Entities: Secretary of Homeland Security; Department of Homeland Security; Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement; covered foreign adversaries; terrorist organizations
• Summary: The primary target is the Secretary of Homeland Security who must conduct assessments and develop recommendations. Secondary targets include law enforcement entities who will receive training, and implicitly the foreign adversaries whose UAS use is being assessed and countered.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; Department of Homeland Security
• Summary: Congressional committees receive assessments and classified briefings, providing oversight and enforcement of the reporting requirements. The Department of Homeland Security implements the Act's requirements.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; Department of Defense; Office of the Director of National Intelligence
• Summary: The Congressional committees monitor implementation through receipt of annual assessments and classified briefings. Other agencies provide consultation and monitoring support in developing the assessments.

AI Lifecycle Stages

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

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily focuses on the operational use and monitoring of AI-enabled unmanned aircraft systems by foreign adversaries, covering the Deploy and Operate & Monitor lifecycle stages. It also addresses planning and design elements in the context of developing counter-UAS systems and domestic preparedness strategies.

Technical Scope

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

• AI Systems
• Task-specific AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions AI systems integrated into unmanned aircraft systems, specifically artificial intelligence for autonomous navigation and targeting. It focuses on task-specific AI applications in drone operations but does not mention foundation models, generative AI, GPAI, frontier AI, or compute thresholds.