A bipartisan bill was reintroduced last week in the House of Representatives to fully establish resources based on the National Science Foundation, aimed at providing academics, nonprofits, small businesses and more with essential tools for AI research.
Full-scale national AI research resources will be codified in NSF under the creation of resources for all Americans to experiment with the 2025 (HR 2385) Artificial Intelligence (Create AI) Act. That resource is currently in pilot form, but laws recognizing Nairr are necessary to continue the work.
“Ensuring students, universities, startups and small businesses can participate in the future of AI, will drive innovation, strengthen our workforce and ensure that American leadership in this critical field is broad and safe.”
Nairr Pilot is currently a collection of resources from the public and private sectors, such as computing power, storage, AI models, and data, which facilitates the process of those studying AI accessing these types of tools. It is often referred to as a way to “democratize” access to these resources.
The pilot version of that resource was first recommended in 2023 by a task force studying future potential Nairr and was eventually released under former President Joe Biden’s AI executive order. Despite President Donald Trump retracting the order in January, an NSF spokesman confirmed with FedScoop that Nairr pilots are still in effect.
According to the Nairr Pilot website, the program supports more than 340 research projects across 40 states, and the organization in Washington, DC includes 14 government agencies and 26 non-government partners.
D-Va co-hosting the law. Rep. Don Beyer called Nairr a “great resource,” highlighting its benefits for researchers, educators and small businesses. Beyer himself received a master’s degree focused on AI while serving at home.
“This access to high-quality data, resource calculations and support will help drive the innovation needed to strengthen the global competitiveness of trustworthy AI development, and thus accelerate solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges,” says Beyer.
The bill gained traction, the last assembly, and advanced from House and Senate committees, but ultimately the floors of either room were not noted. Obernolte, the council, has described him as being “cautiously optimistic” about the law.
The Senate version has not yet been reintroduced. The final co-sponsors of the Congress are Martin Heinrich, DN.M., Todd Young, and R-Ind. , Cory Booker, DN.J., and Mike Rounds, Rs.D. A Young spokesman said he was “working ongoing changes to this legislation,” and said there was no update on the timeline.
Advocates for the bill include the Information Technology Industry Council, Americans for Responsible Innovation, the Business Software Alliance, and the Software & Information Industry Association.
NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan has emphasized in the past the need for a full-fledged Nairr to continue working.
Panchanathan said in an interview with Fedscoop last May that the agency is working to expand and expand existing partnerships, but needs more funding to maintain that effort. At that time, he estimated that Nia could run the pilot project “a year, maybe more.”
Panchanathan said federal investments will support the scale of the project. “This is necessary and it only speeds up progress.”
