FY2026 NDAA, Section 6603 ("Application of artificial intelligence policies of the intelligence community to publicly available models hosted in classified environments")

Summary

Ensures that the Director of the Intelligence Community applies AI policies to publicly available models hosted in classified environments.

Establishes that the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer must create testing standards for AI models based on risk, covering aspects like performance, safety, and transparency.

Requires coordination with Chief AI Officers across the intelligence community to set standards for secure computing environments for testing AI models before acquisition.

Prohibits any intelligence community officer from directing vendors to alter AI models to favor specific viewpoints.

Clarifies that these provisions do not affect or apply to any department or agency outside of the intelligence community.

Mandates that the Director update policies as considered necessary.

Requires the Director to apply AI policies of the intelligence community to publicly available models hosted in classified environments.

SEC. 6603. APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE POLICIES OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TO PUBLICLY AVAILABLE MODELS HOSTED IN CLASSIFIED ENVIRONMENTS. (a) In General.--Section 6702 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (50 U.S.C. 3334m), as amended by section 6602 of this Act, is further amended-- (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``subsection (c)'' and inserting ``subsection (e)''; (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (e); and (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following: ``(c) Application of Policies to Publicly Available Models Hosted in Classified Environments.--In carrying out subsections (a) and (b), the Director shall ensure that the policies established under such subsections apply to the greatest extent possible to artificial intelligence models generally available to the public and hosted in classified environments.

Requires the Chief AI Officer to establish AI model testing standards for risk, performance benchmarks, efficacy, safety, fairness, transparency, accountability, trustworthiness across ML, object detection and recognition use-cases; requires the Officer to set standards for a secure computing environment for model testing and evaluation prior to acquisition.

``(d) Testing Standards and Benchmarks.-- ``(1) Establishment.--The Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer of the Intelligence Community, or any officer designated by the Director of National Intelligence, shall establish standards for testing of artificial intelligence models in proportion to risk, including benchmarks and methodologies for the performance, efficacy, safety, fairness, transparency, accountability, appropriateness, lawfulness, and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence models across common use cases, including machine translation, object detection, and object recognition. ``(2) Identification of computing model.--The Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer of the Intelligence Community, in coordination with the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officers of the elements of the intelligence community, shall set standards for an appropriate secure computing environment, at a level (or multiple levels) of classification deemed appropriate, for elements of the intelligence community to engage in testing and evaluation of models prior to acquisition.''.

Prohibits intelligence officers from directing vendors to alter AI models to favor specific viewpoints, and clarifies the restriction applies only within the intelligence community.

(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in subsection (c) or (d) of section 6702 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (50 U.S.C. 3334m), as added by subsection (a)(3) of this section, shall be construed-- (1) to authorize an officer or employee of the intelligence community to direct a vendor or prospective vendor to alter a model to favor a particular viewpoint; or (2) to apply to, limit, restrict, or otherwise affect any department, agency, or division or function of a department or agency outside of the intelligence community. (c) Updates.--The Director shall make such revisions to the policies issued under subsections (a) and (b) of section 6702 of such Act as the Director considers necessary.