TEST AI Act of 2023

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2025-01-03

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
• Cyberattacks, weapon development or use
• AI possessing dangerous capabilities
• Lack of capability or robustness

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

• Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
• Competitive dynamics

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has good coverage of approximately 5-6 subdomains, with strong focus on AI system security (2.2), malicious actors and weapons development (4.2), competitive dynamics (6.4), and AI safety failures (7.2, 7.3). Coverage is concentrated in security, misuse prevention, and system reliability domains.

Sector coverage

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

• Scientific Research & Development Services
• 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.

• Information
• Educational Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs Scientific Research and Development Services and Public Administration (excluding National Security), with specific focus on federal agencies conducting AI research, development, and oversight. It also has significant coverage of National Security through its explicit focus on preventing AI misuse in weapons of mass destruction proliferation and establishing classified testbeds.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative act introduced in the U.S. Senate that uses mandatory language ('shall') and creates legal obligations for the NIST Director and federal agencies to establish testbeds and coordinate on AI development and testing.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Mr. Luján; Mr. Durbin; Mr. Thune; Mrs. Blackburn; Mr. Risch; United States Senate; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
• Summary: The bill was introduced by Senator Luján and co-sponsors in the U.S. Senate and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, indicating these are the proposing entities.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Department of Energy; Federal agencies; private sector entities; institutions of higher education
• Summary: The bill targets the NIST Director who must establish testbeds, and requires coordination with federal agencies, private sector entities, and higher education institutions involved in AI development and testing.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: NIST Director; Secretary of Commerce; Secretary of Energy; interagency committee under National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act
• Summary: The NIST Director is given mandatory authority to establish testbeds, and the Secretaries of Commerce and Energy must enter into a memorandum of understanding to implement coordination requirements.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: NIST; Department of Energy; interagency committee; Federal agencies
• Summary: The bill establishes monitoring through testbeds that evaluate vulnerabilities and conduct annual risk assessments, with NIST and DOE coordinating oversight activities.

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 primarily covers the Verify and Validate, Deploy, and Operate and Monitor stages through its focus on establishing testbeds for testing trustworthy AI systems, examining vulnerabilities, and conducting ongoing risk assessments. It also touches on Build and Use Model through references to AI development support.

Technical Scope

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

• AI Models
• AI Systems

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions 'artificial intelligence systems' throughout and references trustworthy AI, AI tools, AI methods and solutions. It does not specifically mention frontier AI, general purpose AI, foundation models, generative AI, or compute thresholds. The focus is on AI systems broadly without distinguishing between specific AI types.