HR 5784119th CongressIntroduced

AI–WISE Act

Introduced: Oct 17, 2025

Sponsor: Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] (D-Michigan)

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The AI-WISE Act (Artificial Intelligence Wisdom for Innovative Small Enterprises Act) would add a new program to the Small Business Act to help small businesses think critically about artificial intelligence tools. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) would be required to create and publicly post educational resources and learning modules on AI, covering how AI tools work, their limitations, how outputs are produced, how to tell if outputs are AI-generated, privacy considerations, risk management, and guidance on when and how to use AI to support operations. The materials would be accessible on an existing SBA online platform and could incorporate information from partner organizations and private entities. The bill also establishes an Advisory Working Group of AI experts and outreach professionals to help ensure the content stays accurate and relevant. The group would include representatives from private industry, academia, privacy and security experts, and small-business-focused organizations, and its duties include recommending content to the SBA administrator. The resources and group are designed to be non-biased toward any particular AI model or vendor. The act requires the SBA to complete the educational resources within 180 days of enactment and to disseminate them with the help of resource partners. Importantly, the bill does not authorize new spending; it operates under existing appropriations and must comply with the CUTGO constraint.

Key Points

1Establishes new AI educational resources and modules for small business concerns, to be maintained by the SBA and publicly available on an existing SBA online learning platform.
2Contents include thorough, practicable guidance on how AI models work and their limits, how outputs are generated, how to identify AI-generated outputs, staying updated on AI development and terms of use, best practices with third-party AI providers, risk management, privacy protections for user inputs, maintaining human oversight, and evaluating whether AI tools meet a real need.
3Creates an Advisory Working Group to oversee accuracy and currency of the resources, with diverse members from private sector, academia, AI reliability/privacy organizations, and small-business outreach partners; the group is exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) requirements.
4Encourages incorporation of existing information from resource partners and private entities into the educational materials; allows development of specialized, localized resources by resource partners to better serve different communities.
5Ensures resources are actionable and non-biased toward particular AI models or vendors; defines AI using the Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 framework.
6Sets a 180-day deadline for the SBA Administrator to establish the educational resources and modules after enactment.
7No new funding is authorized; the bill complies with CUTGO (no new spending authority) and relies on existing federal funds.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Small business concerns and the SBA. Small business owners and their staff would gain structured guidance to assess AI tools, potentially improving decision-making, risk management, and prudent adoption of AI technologies.Secondary group/area affected: AI vendors/providers, resource partners (e.g., small business development centers, minority business networks, and other SBA resource partners), and academia. These groups could contribute to and benefit from standardized educational content and dissemination efforts.Additional impacts:- Privacy and security considerations: Emphasizes protecting user inputs and maintaining human oversight, which could influence how small businesses evaluate data use and governance when adopting AI tools.- Non-bias and competition: By prohibiting favoritism toward specific models or vendors, the act aims to level the playing field and encourage evidence-based assessments.- Implementation and administration: Since no new funding is provided, success depends on existing SBA resources and interagency coordination (e.g., with standards bodies via the advisory group). The 180-day deadline sets a concrete timeline for initial rollout.- Policy alignment: The program could complement ongoing efforts to understand AI risk, privacy, and governance, possibly aligning with future standards from NIST or other agencies through the Advisory Working Group’s guidance.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 23, 2025