Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act, Title III ("National Science Foundation for the Future")

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2022-08-09

Risk subdomain coverage

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal coverage of AI risk domains, with brief mentions in only 2-3 subdomains. The document primarily focuses on funding authorization, STEM education, research infrastructure, and workforce development rather than addressing specific AI risks. Coverage is limited to workforce development aspects (6.2) and brief mentions of research security concerns that could relate to AI system security (2.2).

Sector coverage

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

• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Educational Services

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

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Information
• Professional & Technical Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs Educational Services and Scientific Research and Development Services sectors through NSF funding and programs. It also has significant coverage of Professional and Technical Services through research support, and touches on Information sector through AI and computing research. The document does not directly regulate specific industries but rather provides funding and support for research and education across these sectors.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative act from the United States Congress that authorizes appropriations and establishes mandatory requirements for the National Science Foundation using predominantly mandatory language ('shall') with legal enforcement mechanisms.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: This is a Congressional act (Title III of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act) proposed and enacted by the United States Congress to authorize activities and appropriations for the National Science Foundation.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Developer, AI_User
• Summary: The act primarily targets the National Science Foundation and its Director with requirements and authorizations. It also governs institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and researchers who receive NSF funding, as well as students receiving scholarships and fellowships. Private sector entities and other Federal agencies are included as potential partners.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The Director of the NSF is the primary enforcer responsible for implementing the requirements of the act. The Office of Inspector General provides oversight and investigative functions. Congress enforces through appropriations control and oversight mechanisms.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: Multiple entities are designated to monitor implementation including Congressional committees through required reports, the NSF Office of Inspector General for compliance and security issues, the National Science Board for policy oversight, GAO for program reviews, and the National Academies for independent 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
• 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 Plan and Design (through research planning and curriculum development), Build and Use Model (through AI research grants and development activities), and Operate and Monitor (through workforce development and ongoing research programs). The document extensively covers AI systems, AI models, and mentions compute thresholds in the context of AI scholarship programs.

Technical Scope

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

• AI Models
• AI Systems
• Compute Threshold

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions AI models, AI systems, and artificial intelligence extensively throughout. It references AI and machine learning as research areas, discusses AI workforce development, establishes an AI Scholarship-for-Service program, and mentions computational resources including advanced computing capabilities. The document does not explicitly define or distinguish between frontier AI, general purpose AI, task-specific AI, foundation models, generative AI, predictive AI, or open-weight models, though it broadly addresses AI research and development.