AI Sovereignty Act
The AI Sovereignty Act would require the Secretary of Commerce (through the Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security) to prepare and submit a comprehensive set of reports on strategies related to the development of and research in critical artificial intelligence technologies. The initial report, due within 240 days, would map where offshore AI development is happening, identify foreign partnerships, note any reshoring, and examine the roles of foreign nationals and American officials in foreign entities involved in AI. It would also assess the domestic assets such foreign entities have acquired and analyze trends over the next several decades. Based on these findings, the act calls for strategies to disincentivize offshore development, strengthen domestic AI development, and improve government oversight of acquisitions, with all findings and recommended policies published for Congress and in the Federal Register. The act also requires annual (and updated) follow-up reports to determine if strategies are outdated and to provide updates as needed. A prohibition prevents including personally identifiable information (PII) of foreign nationals or officials in the reports. The bill defines what counts as “critical AI technologies” and “foreign entity,” and it envisions consultation with other federal agencies. In short, the bill aims to map and react to offshore AI activity globally, steer strategy toward more domestic development and tighter control of foreign acquisitions, and keep Congress regularly informed about ongoing shifts in AI supply chains and national security implications.
Key Points
- 1Initial comprehensive report due within 240 days identifying:
- 2- Where AI development and related research are offshore.
- 3- Foreign partnerships and any reshoring of such work.
- 4- The roles of foreign nationals educated or working in the U.S. who later work for foreign entities (including adversaries) and the roles of American officials who work for foreign entities.
- 5- Domestic assets (including IP) controlled by foreign entities, such as through bankruptcy or distressed asset sales.
- 6- Long-term trends (up to at least 30 years) in offshore development, technology, investment, workforce migration, and geopolitical risk.
- 7- Comparisons between the U.S. and foreign countries on AI technologies and research platforms.
- 8Assessment of how offshore development and research affect:
- 9- The U.S. economy, national security, allies, adversaries (including specific adversaries named), and geopolitically vulnerable markets (e.g., Taiwan).
- 10Strategy recommendations, including:
- 11- Disincentivizing offshore development and research.
- 12- Strengthening domestic AI development and research.
- 13- Increasing governmental oversight of acquisitions by foreign entities.
- 14- Reducing the incidence of such acquisitions.
- 15Public reporting requirements:
- 16- Submit to Congress and publish in the Federal Register a report detailing identifications, assessments, strategies, and policy recommendations by implementing steps.
- 17Prohibition on including PII:
- 18- The Secretary may not include in the report any personally identifiable information about foreign nationals or officials described in the identified categories.
- 19Subsequence reporting and updates:
- 20- Not later than one year after the initial report (and annually thereafter), assess whether strategies are outdated and, if so, publish updated strategies.
- 21Consultation:
- 22- The Secretary must consult with heads of other federal agencies as appropriate.
- 23Definitions:
- 24- Critical AI technologies: hardware, software, or data models relating to AI (e.g., high-performance semiconductors, neural processing units, DL processors, ASICs, FPGAs, hardware accelerators, software frameworks, inference stacks, and data models for research, national intelligence/surveillance, national defense, or advanced mathematics).
- 25- Foreign entity: an organization organized outside the United States or with a principal place of business outside the United States.