Official name: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, Section 3117 ("Appropriate scoping of artificial intelligence research within the National Nuclear Security Administration")
Restricts AI research and development funds within the National Nuclear Security Administration to supporting nuclear security missions. Allows AI R&D in other Department of Energy components or federal agencies, provided it doesn't interfere with nuclear security functions.
Analysis summaries, actor details, and coverage mappings were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
This is a binding federal statute enacted by the United States Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, with mandatory language restricting the use of appropriated funds and clear legal authority.
This document has minimal risk domain coverage, primarily addressing governance and competitive dynamics concerns. It does not directly address AI safety, security vulnerabilities, discrimination, privacy, misinformation, or other technical AI risks. The focus is on organizational and resource allocation constraints rather than AI risk mitigation.
This document primarily governs the National Security sector by restricting AI research and development within the National Nuclear Security Administration. It also has implications for Scientific Research and Development Services as it regulates how AI R&D programs can be structured and funded within federal agencies.
The document addresses AI research and development broadly, covering planning, building, and deployment stages. It focuses on resource allocation and organizational scope rather than specific technical lifecycle stages. The document restricts AI R&D activities within NNSA to nuclear security missions across the entire development lifecycle.
The document uses the broad term 'artificial intelligence technologies' without defining specific AI types. It does not distinguish between AI models, systems, or specific categories like frontier AI, general purpose AI, or foundation models. No compute thresholds or technical specifications are mentioned.
United States Congress
The document is Section 3117 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, which is proposed and enacted by the United States Congress as the legislative authority.
Department of Energy; National Nuclear Security Administration; United States Congress
Enforcement authority is implicit through congressional appropriations oversight and Department of Energy administrative control over fund allocation and compliance with statutory restrictions.
United States Congress; Department of Energy
Monitoring is implicit through congressional oversight of appropriations and Department of Energy internal compliance mechanisms to ensure funds are used according to statutory restrictions.
National Nuclear Security Administration; Department of Energy; national security laboratories; nuclear weapons production facility sites
The document specifically targets the National Nuclear Security Administration and its components, restricting how they can use AI research and development funds. It also references other Department of Energy components and federal agencies as potential recipients of AI R&D programs.
2 subdomains (2 Minimal)
