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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2938 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2938
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish the Advanced Artificial
Intelligence Evaluation Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 29, 2025
Mr. Hawley (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish the Advanced Artificial
Intelligence Evaluation Program, 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 ``Artificial Intelligence Risk
Evaluation Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSES.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that rapidly
advancing artificial intelligence capabilities present both
opportunities and significant risks to national security, public
safety, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, and healthy labor
and other markets, and that, as artificial intelligence advances toward
human-level capabilities in virtually all domains, the United States
must establish a secure testing and evaluation program to generate
data-driven options for managing emerging risks.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of the program established under this
Act are to provide Congress with the empirical data, lessons, and
insights necessary for Federal oversight of artificial intelligence to
ensure that regulatory decisions are made on the basis of empirical
testing, and to enable Congress to safeguard American citizens.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Advanced artificial intelligence system.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
term ``advanced artificial intelligence system'' means
an artificial intelligence system that was trained
using a quantity of computing power greater than 10\26\
integer or floating-point operations.
(B) Alternate meaning.--The Secretary may, by a
rule, propose a new definition of the term ``advanced
artificial intelligence system'' to replace the
definition in subparagraph (A), which new definition
shall not go into effect until the Secretary submits
the rule to Congress and a joint resolution approving
the rule is enacted into law.
(2) Adverse AI incident.--The term ``adverse AI incident''
means an incident relating to an artificial intelligence system
that involves--
(A) a loss-of-control scenario;
(B) a risk of weaponization by a foreign adversary,
a foreign terrorist organization, or another adversary
of the United States Government;
(C) a threat to the safety or reliability of
critical infrastructure (as defined in subsection (e)
of the Critical Infrastructures Protection Act of 2001
(42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)));
(D) a significant erosion of civil liberties,
economic competition, and healthy labor markets;
(E) scheming behavior; or
(F) an attempt to carry out an incident described
in subparagraphs (A) through (E).
(3) Artificial intelligence; AI.--The term ``artificial
intelligence'' or ``AI'' means technology that enables a device
or software--
(A) to make--for a given set of human-defined
objectives--predictions, recommendations, or decisions
influencing real or virtual environments; and
(B) to use machine and human-based inputs--
(i) to perceive real and virtual
environments;
(ii) to abstract such perceptions into
models through analysis in an automated manner;
and
(iii) to use model inference to formulate
options for information or action.
(4) Artificial intelligence system; AI system.--The term
``artificial intelligence system'' or ``AI system'' means a
particular model, program, or tool within the field of
artificial intelligence.
(5) Artificial superintelligence.--
(A) In general.--The term ``artificial
superintelligence'' means artificial intelligence that
exhibits, or can easily be modified to exhibit, all of
the characteristics described in subparagraph (B).
(B) Characteristics described.--The characteristics
referred to in subparagraph (A) are the following:
(i) The AI can enable a device or software
to operate autonomously and effectively for
long stretches of time in open-ended
environments and in pursuit of broad
objectives.
(ii) The AI can enable a device or software
to match or exceed human cognitive performance
and capabilities across most domains or tasks,
including those related to decisionmaking,
learning, and adaptive behaviors.
(iii) The AI can enable a device or
software to potentially exhibit the capacity to
independently modify or enhance its own
functions in ways that could plausibly
circumvent human control or oversight, posing
substantial and unprecedented risks to
humanity.
(6) Computing power.--The term ``computing power'' means
the processing power and other electronic resources used to
train, validate, deploy, and run AI algorithms and models.
(7) Covered advanced artificial intelligence system
developer.--The term ``covered advanced artificial intelligence
system developer'' means a person that designs, codes,
produces, owns, or substantially modifies an advanced
artificial intelligence system for use in interstate or foreign
commerce, including by taking steps to initiate a training run
of the advanced artificial intelligence system.
(8) Deploy.--The term ``deploy'' means an action taken by a
covered advanced artificial intelligence system developer to
release, sell, or otherwise provide access to an advanced
artificial intelligence system outside the custody of the
developer, including by releasing an open-source advanced
artificial intelligence system.
(9) Foreign adversary.--The term ``foreign adversary''
means a foreign adversary (as defined in section 791.2 of title
15, Code of Federal Regulations) (or successor regulations)
that is included on the list in section 791.4(a) of that title
(or successor regulations).
(10) Foreign terrorist organization.--The term ``foreign
terrorist organization'' means a foreign entity designated as a
foreign terrorist organization by the Secretary of State under
section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1189).
(11) Interstate or foreign commerce.--The term ``interstate
or foreign commerce'' has the meaning given the term in section
921(a) of title 18, United States Code.
(12) Loss-of-control scenario.--The term ``loss-of-control
scenario'' means a scenario in which an artificial intelligence
system--
(A) behaves contrary to its instruction or
programming by human designers or operators;
(B) deviates from rules established by human
designers or operators;
(C) alters operational rules or safety constraints
without authorization;
(D) operates beyond the scope intended by human
designers or operators;
(E) pursues goals that are different from those
intended by human designers or operators;
(F) subverts oversight or shutdown mechanisms; or
(G) otherwise behaves in an unpredictable manner so
as to be harmful to humanity.
(13) Program.--The term ``program'' means the Advanced
Artificial Intelligence Evaluation Program established under
section 5.
(14) Scheming behavior.--The term ``scheming behavior''
means behavior by an AI system to deceive human designers or
operators, including by--
(A) hiding its true capabilities and objectives; or
(B) attempting to subvert oversight mechanisms or
shutdown mechanisms.
(15) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
SEC. 4. OBLIGATION TO PARTICIPATE; ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES.
(a) In General.--Each covered advanced artificial intelligence
system developer shall--
(1) participate in the program; and
(2) provide to the Secretary, on request, materials and
information necessary to carry out the program, which may
include, with respect to the advanced artificial intelligence
system of the covered advanced artificial intelligence system
developer--
(A) the underlying code of the advanced artificial
intelligence system;
(B) data used to train the advanced artificial
intelligence system;
(C) model weights or other adjustable parameters
for the advanced artificial intelligence system;
(D) the interface engine or other implementation of
the advanced artificial intelligence system; and
(E) detailed information regarding the training,
model architecture, or other aspects of the advanced
artificial intelligence system.
(b) Prohibition on Deployment.--No person may deploy an advanced
artificial intelligence system for use in interstate or foreign
commerce unless that person is in compliance with subsection (a).
(c) Penalty.--A person that violates subsection (a) or (b) shall be
fined not less than $1,000,000 per day of the violation.
SEC. 5. ADVANCED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EVALUATION PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall establish an Advanced Artificial
Intelligence Evaluation Program within the Department of Energy.
(b) Activities.--The program shall--
(1) offer standardized and classified testing and
evaluation of advanced AI systems to systematically collect
data on the likelihood of adverse AI incidents for a given
advanced AI system;
(2) implement testing protocols that match or exceed
anticipated real-world AI jailbreaking techniques, including
adversarial testing by red teams with expertise comparable to
sophisticated malicious actors;
(3) to the extent feasible, establish and facilitate
classified, independent third-party assessments and blind model
evaluations to maintain transparency and reliability;
(4) provide participating entities with a formal report
based on testing outcomes that clearly identifies evaluated
risks and safety measures;
(5) develop recommended containment protocols, contingency
planning, and mitigation strategies informed by testing data to
address identified risks;
(6) inform the creation of evidence-based standards,
regulatory options, guidelines, and governance mechanisms based
on data collected from testing and evaluations;
(7) assist Congress in determining the potential for
controlled AI systems to reach artificial superintelligence,
exceed human oversight or operational control, or pose
existential threats to humanity by providing comprehensive
empirical evaluations and risk assessments; and
(8) develop proposed options for regulatory or governmental
oversight, including potential nationalization or other
strategic measures, for preventing or managing the development
of artificial superintelligence if artificial superintelligence
seems likely to arise.
(c) Plan for Permanent Framework.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 360 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a
detailed recommendation for Federal oversight of advanced
artificial intelligence systems, drawing directly upon
insights, empirical data, and lessons learned from the program.
(2) Contents.--The plan submitted under paragraph (1)
shall--
(A) summarize and analyze outcomes from testing,
identifying key trends, capabilities, potential risks,
and system behaviors such as weaponization potential,
self-replication capabilities, scheming behaviors,
autonomous decisionmaking, and automated AI development
capabilities;
(B) recommend evidence-based standards,
certification procedures, licensing requirements, and
regulatory oversight structures specifically informed
by testing and evaluation data, ensuring alignment
between identified risks and regulatory responses;
(C) outline proposals for automated and continuous
monitoring of AI hardware usage, computational resource
inputs, and cloud-computing deployments based on
observed relationships between those factors and AI
system performance or emergent capabilities;
(D) propose adaptive governance strategies that
account for ongoing improvements in algorithmic
efficiency and system capabilities, ensuring that
regulatory frameworks remain relevant and effective as
AI technology advances;
(E) suggest revisions with respect to Federal
oversight or resourcing, such as a new office within an
existing agency, a new agency, or additional funding,
that may be necessary to develop and administer a
permanent framework for oversight of advanced
artificial intelligence systems; and
(F) provide comprehensive evaluations regarding the
potential for tested AI systems to exceed human
oversight, approach artificial superintelligence,
threaten economic competition (including in labor
markets), undermine civil liberties, and pose
existential risks to humanity, including clearly
articulated options for regulatory or governmental
oversight measures to address scenarios of imminent
concern identified through testing.
(3) Updates.--Not less frequently than once every year for
the duration of the program, the Secretary shall--
(A) update the plan submitted under paragraph (1)
with new insights, data, and lessons from the program;
and
(B) submit the updated plan to Congress.
(d) Sunset.--The program shall terminate on the date that is 7
years after the date of enactment of this Act, unless renewed by
Congress.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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