[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9671 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9671
To provide guidance for and investment in the research and development
activities of artificial intelligence at the Department of Energy, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 18, 2024
Mr. Williams of New York (for himself and Ms. Bonamici) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide guidance for and investment in the research and development
activities of artificial intelligence at the Department of Energy, 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 ``Department of Energy Artificial
Intelligence Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Title LV of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry
National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 (Public Law 116-283) is
amended to read as follows:
``TITLE LV--DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH
PROGRAM
``Sec. 5501. Department of Energy artificial intelligence research
program.
``Sec. 5502. Ensuring energy security for data centers and computing
resources.
``SEC. 5501. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH
PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a cross-cutting
research and development program to advance artificial intelligence
tools, systems, capabilities, and workforce needs and develop
artificial intelligence capabilities for the purposes of advancing the
missions of the Department (in this section referred to as the
`program'). In carrying out such program, the Secretary shall
coordinate across all relevant offices and programs of the Department,
including the Office of Science, the Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, the Office of Nuclear Energy, the Office of Fossil
Energy, the Office of Electricity, the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy
Security, Emergency Response, and the Advanced Research Projects
Agency-Energy.
``(b) Research Areas.--In carrying out the program, the Secretary
shall award financial assistance to eligible entities to carry out
research projects on topics including the following:
``(1) The application of artificial intelligence systems to
improve large-scale simulations of natural and other phenomena.
``(2) The study of applied mathematics, computer science,
and statistics, including foundations of methods and systems of
artificial intelligence, causal and statistical inference, and
the development of algorithms for artificial intelligence
systems.
``(3) The analysis of existing and new large-scale datasets
from science and engineering experiments and simulations,
including energy simulations and sponsored research activities,
and, as determined by the Secretary, other priorities of the
Department that utilize artificial intelligence tools and
techniques.
``(4) The development of operation and control systems that
enhance automated, intelligent decision-making capabilities.
``(5) The development of advanced computing hardware and
computer architecture tailored to artificial intelligence
systems, including the following:
``(A) The codesign of software and computational
hardware.
``(B) Energy-efficient computing hardware and
algorithms for artificial intelligence training and
inference.
``(C) Mechanisms to improve the energy efficiency
of data centers, including relevant energy efficiency
benchmarks for such centers.
``(6) The aggregation, curation, and distribution of
standardized datasets for emerging artificial intelligence
research fields and applications, including methods for
addressing data scarcity.
``(7) The development of advanced artificial intelligence
systems for pressing scientific, energy, and national security
applications.
``(8) The development of trustworthy artificial
intelligence systems, including the following:
``(A) Algorithmic explainability.
``(B) Analytical methods for identifying and
mitigating bias in artificial intelligence systems.
``(C) Safety and robustness, including assurance,
verification, validation, security, and control.
``(c) Technology Transfer.--In carrying out the program, the
Secretary shall support technology transfer of artificial intelligence
systems for the benefit of society and United States economic
competitiveness.
``(d) Facility Use and Upgrades.--In carrying out the program, the
Secretary shall carry out the following:
``(1) Make available high-performance computing
infrastructure at National Laboratories for the development and
use of advanced artificial intelligence systems.
``(2) Make any upgrades necessary to enhance the use of
existing computing facilities for artificial intelligence
systems, including upgrades to hardware and other resources
necessary for developing, training, and evaluating advanced
artificial intelligence technologies.
``(3) Establish new computing capabilities necessary to
manage data and conduct high performance computing that enables
the development and use of advanced artificial intelligence
systems.
``(4) Maintain and improve, as needed, networking
infrastructure, data input and output mechanisms, and data
analysis, storage, and service capabilities.
``(5) Facilitate the development of unclassified and
classified high-performance computing systems and artificial
intelligence platforms through Department-owned infrastructure
data and computing facilities.
``(6) Provide other resources necessary for the Department
to develop, train, and evaluate advanced artificial
intelligence systems and related technologies;
``(e) Testbeds for Next-Generation Computing Platforms and
Infrastructure.--
``(1) In general.--In carrying out the program, the
Secretary shall establish at least one data center testbed for
the development and assessment of hardware and algorithms for
energy-efficient and energy-flexible artificial intelligence
training and inference.
``(2) Activities.--In carrying out the testbed established
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall carry out the
following:
``(A) Test and evaluate new software, hardware,
codesign of hardware and software, algorithms,
networking, and other artificial intelligence-based
technologies and applications to improve energy
efficiency across the artificial intelligence
ecosystem.
``(B) Carry out cooperative research projects with
industry, including end user companies, hardware
systems vendors, artificial intelligence developers,
data center developers and operators, energy utilities,
and other appropriate stakeholders.
``(f) Aggregation, Curation, and Distribution of Artificial
Intelligence Training Datasets.--In carrying out activities described
in subsection (b)(6), the Secretary shall develop methods, platforms,
protocols, and other tools required for efficient, responsible, and
effective aggregation, generation, curation, and distribution of
artificial intelligence training and inference datasets, including the
following:
``(1) Assembling, aggregating, and curating large-scale
training data for advanced artificial intelligence systems,
including outputs from research programs of the Department and
other open science data, with the goal of developing
comprehensive scientific artificial intelligence training
databases and testing and validation data.
``(2) Developing dataset documentation and metadata
protocols and visualization tools, taking into account
appropriate standards and guidelines to promote
interoperability and consistency in documentation.
``(3) Developing and implementing appropriate data
management plans for the ethical, responsible, and secure use
of classified and unclassified scientific data.
``(4) Identifying, curating, and safely distributing, as
appropriate based on the application, the following:
``(A) Scientific and experimental departmental
datasets.
``(B) Sponsored research activities that are needed
for the training of foundational and adapted downstream
artificial intelligence systems.
``(5) Partnering with stakeholders to curate critical
datasets that reside outside the Department but are determined
by the Secretary to be critical to optimizing the capabilities
of advanced artificial intelligence systems relevant to the
missions of the Department.
``(g) Development of Advanced Artificial Intelligence Systems for
Pressing Scientific, Energy, and National Security Applications.--In
carrying out subsection (b)(7), the Secretary shall carry out the
following:
``(1) Develop innovative concepts in applied mathematics,
computer science, engineering, and other science disciplines
needed for advanced artificial intelligence systems.
``(2) Develop best-in-class advanced artificial
intelligence systems, model derivatives that support downstream
use cases, and other technologies to solve pressing scientific,
energy, and national security challenges.
``(3) Carry out cooperative research projects with
industry, including end user companies, hardware systems
vendors, and artificial intelligence software companies, to
advance artificial intelligence technologies relevant to the
missions of the Department and mitigate risks associated with
such technologies.
``(4) In coordination with the Secretary of Commerce and
the Secretary of Homeland Security, research counter-
adversarial artificial intelligence solutions to predict,
prevent, mitigate, and respond to threats to critical
infrastructure, energy security, and nuclear nonproliferation,
and biological and chemical threats.
``(5) In coordination with energy utilities, State energy
offices, data center developers and operators, and other key
stakeholders the Secretary determines appropriate, carry out
research to examine how artificial intelligence technologies
may be impacted by or applied to energy supply bottlenecks,
energy demand projections, site reliability challenges, and
data center operational flexibilities.
``(6) Establish crosscutting research efforts to understand
and mitigate artificial intelligence-related risks, including
the establishment of unclassified and classified data platforms
across the Department.
``(h) Shared Resources for Artificial Intelligence.--
``(1) In general.--As part of the program, the Secretary
shall identify, support, and sustain shared resources and
enabling tools that have the potential to accelerate the pace
of scientific discovery and technological innovation with
respect to the missions of the Department relating to science,
energy, and national security.
``(2) Consultation.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall consult with relevant experts in the Federal
Government, industry, energy utilities, academia, State energy
offices, and the National Laboratories.
``(3) Focus.--Shared resources and enabling tools referred
to in paragraph (1) shall include the following:
``(A) Scientific data and knowledge bases for
training artificial intelligence systems.
``(B) Benchmarks and competitions for evaluating
advances in artificial intelligence systems.
``(C) Platform technologies that lower the cost of
generating training data or enable the generation of
training data.
``(D) High-performance computing, including hybrid
computing systems that integrate artificial
intelligence and high-performance computing.
``(E) The combination of artificial intelligence
and scientific automation, such as cloud labs and self-
driving labs.
``(F) Tools that enable artificial intelligence to
solve inverse design problems.
``(G) Testbeds for accelerating progress at the
intersection of artificial intelligence and
cyberphysical systems.
``(H) Testbeds for testing and evaluating
artificial intelligence-based technologies and
applications to improve energy efficiency across
artificial intelligence systems, in accordance with
subsection (e).
``(4) Interagency coordination.--The Secretary shall ensure
coordination with, and avoid unnecessary duplication of,
activities to provide shared resources with the National
Science Foundation, the agencies participating in the
Interagency Committee established under section 5103 of this
Act, and the Networking and Information Technology Research and
Development Program authorized under section 101 of the High
Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511).
``(i) Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes.--The Secretary
shall support on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis not fewer than two
multidisciplinary artificial intelligence research institutes pursuant
to section 5201 of this Act.
``(j) Research To Improve Energy Permitting Processes.--In
consultation with the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council
established under section 41002(a) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m-
1(a)), the Secretary shall carry out research and development
activities to evaluate the potential for utilizing artificial
intelligence to improve Federal permitting processes for energy-related
projects, including critical materials (as such term is defined in
section 7002 of title VII of division Z of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260; 30 U.S.C. 1606))
projects, by building tools to improve future reviews and analyzing
data from past environmental and other permitting reviews to inform
more flexible and effective categorical exclusions.
``(k) Risk Management.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall review agency
policies for risk management in artificial intelligence related
projects and issue, as necessary, policies and principles that
are consistent with the framework developed under section 22A
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15
U.S.C. 278h-1(c)).
``(2) Taxonomy.--The Secretary, in consultation with the
Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense, the
Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the National
Security Agency, and the Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, shall develop a taxonomy of safety
and security risks associated with artificial intelligence
systems relevant to the missions of the Department.
``(l) Stem Education and Workforce Development.--As part of the
program, the Secretary, in coordination with the Director of the
National Science Foundation, may develop the required workforce, and
hire and train researchers to meet the rising demand for artificial
intelligence talent, including by carrying out the following:
``(1) Providing training, grants, and research
opportunities, including experiential learning experiences for
undergraduate and graduate students in advanced artificial
intelligence systems.
``(2) Carrying out public awareness campaigns regarding
artificial intelligence related career paths.
``(3) Assisting institutions of higher education to
establish new degree and certificate programs in artificial
intelligence-related disciplines.
``(m) Administration.--
``(1) Research security.--The activities authorized under
this section shall be applied in a manner consistent with
subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development,
Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.).
``(2) Cybersecurity.--The Secretary shall ensure the
integration of robust cybersecurity measures into all
artificial intelligence research-to-deployment efforts
authorized under this section to protect the integrity and
confidentiality of collected and analyzed data.
``(3) Ethical considerations.--Taking into account the
guidance issued pursuant to section 10343(c) of the Research
and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C.
19052(c)), the Secretary shall issue guidance governing the
ethical, safe, and responsible conduct of research activities
funded by the Department and performed at National Laboratories
and user facilities.
``(n) Data Privacy and Sharing.--The Secretary shall review agency
policies for data sharing with other public and private sector
organizations and issue, as necessary, policies and principles that are
consistent with the standards and guidelines submitted under section
22A of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15
U.S.C. 278h-1(e)). In addition, the Secretary shall establish a
streamlined mechanism for approving research projects or partnerships
that require sharing sensitive public or private data with the
Department.
``(o) Partnerships.--
``(1) Federal partnerships.--The Secretary may request,
accept, and provide funds from other Federal departments and
agencies, State, United States territory, local, or Tribal
government agencies, private sector for-profit entities, and
nonprofit entities, to be available to the extent provided by
appropriations Acts, to support a research project or
partnership carried out under this section. The Secretary may
not give any special consideration to any agency or entity in
return for a donation.
``(2) Partnerships with private entities.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall seek to
establish partnerships with private companies and
nonprofit organizations in carrying out this section.
``(B) Requirement.--In carrying out subparagraph
(A), the Secretary shall protect any information
submitted to or shared by the Department consistent
with applicable laws and regulations.
``(p) Stakeholder Engagement.--In carrying out the activities
authorized in this section, the Secretary shall carry out the
following:
``(1) Collaborate with a range of stakeholders, including
small businesses, institutes of higher education, industry, and
the National Laboratories.
``(2) Leverage the collective body of knowledge from
existing artificial intelligence and machine learning research.
``(3) Engage with other Federal departments and agencies,
research communities, and potential users of information
produced under this section.
``(q) Strategic Plan.--
``(1) In general.--In carrying out the program, the
Secretary shall develop a strategic plan with specific short-
term and long-term goals and resource needs to advance
applications in artificial intelligence for science, energy,
and national security to support the missions of the
Department. The strategic plan shall be consistent with the
following:
``(A) The 2023 National Laboratory workshop report
entitled `Advanced Research Directions on AI for
Science, Energy, and Security'.
``(B) The 2024 National Laboratory workshop report
entitled `AI for Energy'.
``(C) The strategic plan required under section
5103 of division E of this Act (15 U.S.C. 9413).
``(2) Report to congress.--Not later than one year after
the date of the enactment of this section, the Director shall
submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
the House of Representatives and the Committee of Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate the strategic plan required
under paragraph (1), and shall notify such committees of any
substantial updates to such plan in subsequent years.
``(r) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Artificial intelligence system.--The term `artificial
intelligence system' has the meaning given such term in section
7223 of the Advancing American AI Act (40 U.S.C. 11301 note;
Public Law 117-263).
``(2) Department.--The term `Department' means the
Department of Energy.
``(3) Eligible entities.--The term `eligible entities'
means any of the following:
``(A) An institution of higher education.
``(B) A National Laboratory.
``(C) A Federal research agency.
``(D) A State research agency.
``(E) A nonprofit research organization.
``(F) A private sector entity.
``(G) A consortium of two or more entities
described in subparagraphs (A) through (F).
``(4) National laboratory.--The term `National Laboratory'
has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
``(5) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Energy.
``(6) Testbed.--The term `testbed' means any platform,
facility, or environment that enables the testing and
evaluation of scientific theories and new technologies,
including hardware, software, or field environments in which
structured frameworks can be implemented to conduct tests to
assess the performance, reliability, safety, and security of a
wide range of items, including prototypes, systems,
applications, artificial intelligence systems, instruments,
computational tools, devices, and other technological
innovations.
``(s) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $300,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2030.
``SEC. 5502. ENSURING ENERGY SECURITY FOR DATA CENTERS AND COMPUTING
RESOURCES.
``Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this
section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that includes
the following:
``(1) An assessment of the following:
``(A) The growth of computing data centers and
advanced computing electrical power load in the United
States.
``(B) Potential risks of growth in computing
centers or growth in the required electrical power to
United States energy security and national security.
``(C) The extent to which emerging technologies,
such as artificial intelligence and advanced computing,
may impact hardware and software systems used at data
and computing centers.
``(D) Cost, performance, reliability, availability,
space requirements, emissions, and supply chain issues
for current technologies, including renewable diesel,
natural gas, renewable natural gas, fuel cells, nuclear
energy, battery storage, enhanced geothermal, long-
duration energy storage, and other potentially viable
technologies available to support regional data center
expansion and for backup power.
``(2) Recommendations for the following:
``(A) Resources and capabilities that the
Department may provide to promote access to energy
resources by data centers, advanced computing hardware
and algorithms, and artificial intelligence systems.
``(B) Policy changes to ensure domestic deployment
of data center and advanced computing resources to
prevent offshoring of United States data and resources.
``(C) Improving the energy efficiency of data
centers, advanced computing hardware and algorithms,
and artificial intelligence systems.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 2(b) of
the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act of
2021 (Public Law 116-283) is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 5501 the following new item:
``Sec. 5502. Ensuring energy security for data centers and computing
resources.''.
<all>