[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6461 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6461
To direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop
best practices and technical guidance on artificial intelligence model
documentation, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 4, 2025
Ms. McBride (for herself and Mr. Obernolte) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop
best practices and technical guidance on artificial intelligence model
documentation, 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 ``Resources for Evaluating and
Documenting AI Models'' or the ``READ AI Models Act''.
SEC. 2. RESOURCES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODEL DOCUMENTATION.
(a) Resources.--
(1) In general.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, the Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, in consultation with the heads of
other Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall initiate a pilot
program to establish a structured template and associated
technical guidelines for documentation to accompany artificial
intelligence models and associated data developed and used by
the public sector or private sector.
(2) Activities.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, in carrying out paragraph (1), the Director
shall carry out the following:
(A) Produce a structured template designed to
enable a user to document information about an
artificial intelligence model and associated data,
which may include the following information:
(i) The name of such model.
(ii) The identification of the developer of
such model.
(iii) The identification of the location
where such developer is incorporated.
(iv) The release date of such model.
(v) The knowledge cutoff date for such
model's training data.
(vi) Languages supported by such model.
(vii) Terms of service of such model.
(viii) Any other information the Director
determines appropriate.
(B) Ensure such template is modular in nature, such
that users can flexibly adopt and complete sections,
categories, or other similar components of such
template in accordance with a specific use case,
including relating to sector-specific needs, intended
audiences, and a set of desired characteristics.
(C) Provide detailed technical guidelines
accompanying such template that--
(i) make available relevant metrics or
benchmarks for each component of such template
for a range of artificial intelligence model
types, as applicable; and
(ii) incorporate voluntary consensus-based
technical standards and industry best
practices, as appropriate.
(3) Stakeholder input.--In carrying out paragraph (2), the
Director shall carry out the following:
(A) Collaborate with private sector entities,
institutions of higher education, nonprofit
organizations, international standards organizations,
and Federal agencies, as the Director determines
appropriate, including conducting periodic outreach to
such entities, institutions, organizations, and
agencies.
(B) Publish in the Federal Register a draft of the
structured template and associated technical guidelines
referred to in paragraph (1), and provide an
opportunity for submission of public comments for a
period of not less than 60 days to be considered for
incorporation into such template and guidelines.
(4) Reporting and publication.--Not later than 12 months
after the date on which the Director establishes the pilot
program pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director shall carry out
the following:
(A) Submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
the Senate a report that includes the following:
(i) An assessment on the effectiveness of
such pilot program.
(ii) If so assessed to be effective, a plan
for permanent implementation, including
relating to administration, of such pilot
program.
(B) Make publicly available on the website of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology the
structured template and associated technical guidelines
referred to in paragraph (1), including the
incorporation of any appropriate comments in accordance
with paragraph (3)(B).
(5) Definitions.--In this Act:
(A) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the
Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology.
(B) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial
intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in
section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence
Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).
(C) Artificial intelligence model.--The term
``artificial intelligence model'' means a software
component of an information system that implements
artificial intelligence technology and uses
computational, statistical, or machine-learning
techniques to produce outputs from a defined set of
inputs.
(D) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning
given such term in section 101(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(E) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit
organization'' means an organization described in
section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code.
(F) International standards organization.--The term
``international standards organization'' has the
meaning given such term in section 451 of the Trade
Agreements Act of 1979 (19 U.S.C. 2571).
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