{"id":87967,"date":"2026-02-13T20:13:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T23:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/892215231"},"modified":"2026-02-13T20:13:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T23:13:56","slug":"tech-bills-of-the-week-ai-science-challenge-protecting-copyright-content-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/13\/tech-bills-of-the-week-ai-science-challenge-protecting-copyright-content-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech bills of the week: AI science challenge; protecting copyright content; and more"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

AI R&D challenge <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., introduced a bill on Feb. 9 that would ask the director of the National Science Foundation to spearhead award competitions for new artificial intelligence research and development.<\/p>\n

The AI Grand Challenges Act of 2026<\/a> seeks to create a new program helmed by NSF to incentivize new research in AI fields, particularly focusing on key policy areas like national security, cybersecurity, health, energy, transportation, manufacturing, quantum computing, materials science and more. The only mandated challenge in the measure would direct the head of the National Institutes of Health to take part in establishing a health-AI contest focused on cancer detection. <\/p>\n

The National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee would help NSF construct and launch the program, which would then be managed by the General Services Administration through the domain Challenges.gov. In keeping with the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, judges for the contest may include individuals from the private sector. <\/p>\n

A companion House bill<\/a> was introduced the same day by Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. Prior to this week\u2019s introduction, Booker proposed a similar version of the bill in 2024. Changes between the old and new versions of the bill, shared with Nextgov\/FCW<\/em>, task the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee with helping shape the program, set up a potential phased process for the challenge and add a new section permitting the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to work with relevant agencies to identify and publish data sets for use by challenge participants. <\/p>\n

Senate version of ePermit bill<\/strong><\/p>\n

A bipartisan group of senators launched an initiative to help modernize the federal permitting process with the help of cloud-based technologies. <\/p>\n

The ePermit Act, introduced<\/a> by Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., John Curtis, R-Utah, Cory Booker, D-N.J., Dave McCormick, R-Pa., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Steve Daines, R-Mont., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., builds off of ongoing efforts to update federal environmental review processing with advanced technology. <\/p>\n

Specifically, the Council on Environmental Quality is tasked with developing, publishing and routinely updating the data standards for the information gathered from conducting environmental reviews. If the bill passes, federal agencies would be required to adopt data management tools to more easily access environmental review information. <\/p>\n

With a companion bill in the House<\/a> already passed, senators introduced their version to support the adoption and expansion of digital tools to facilitate environmental review completion and subsequent permitting procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no reason critical permitting reviews should be delayed by outdated, bureaucratic systems,\u201d said Padilla in a press release<\/a>. \u201cModernizing our systems through digital tools and standardizing permitting data collection across agencies will save money and time while preserving strong environmental standards and public input. E-permitting is a commonsense solution with bipartisan support, and I will keep working across the aisle to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI for small businesses<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., introduced the Small Business Artificial Intelligence Training Act<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The bill asks the Commerce Department to partner with the Small Business Administration to create and disseminate AI training resources and tools for small businesses. In a press release, Moran said the measure intends to support the ability of small businesses in rural areas to adopt and benefit from AI tools.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis legislation would help small businesses use AI to meet their needs, expand and innovate,\u201d he said. \u201cCombining these tools with a trained workforce will help make certain the U.S. is utilizing AI to grow our economy and bolster businesses in Kansas and across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other provisions in the bill would leverage the Small Business Development Centers network to deploy these resources nationwide and have Commerce create grants for organizations looking to develop training programs pursuant to the bill, with a condition that 25% of grant funds go toward small businesses located in rural or underserved areas.<\/p>\n

Methane detection and response <\/strong><\/p>\n

House lawmakers introduced a bill on Feb. 10 that would apply advanced technologies to improve methane emission detection and mitigation. <\/p>\n

The Methane Monitoring Science Act<\/a>, introduced by Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., instructs NASA to work with leadership at relevant federal agencies to research current and future methane detection technologies and their efficacy in detecting gas leaks. <\/p>\n

The outcome of this work will be a federal strategy to assess and evaluate how to improve these methods with data integration and sharing from other indicators to respond to larger-scale methane leaks. <\/p>\n

\u201cIdentifying methane leaks is critical for the success of the American energy and methane mitigation industry,\u201d said Beyer<\/a>. \u201cInnovative technologies are available to capture methane leakage, but a primary challenge is finding and tracking those leaks. Our legislation would coordinate monitoring systems and technologies to identify leaks more quickly and effectively than they can now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill was submitted as an amendment to the larger NASA reauthorization bill for this year. <\/p>\n

Protecting copyrighted material used in AI models<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and John Curtis, R-Utah, have teamed up to introduce the Copyright Labeling and Ethical AI Reporting \u2014 or CLEAR \u2014 Act, a bill that aims to support the copyright and intellectual property rights of creators whose work is used to train AI models. <\/p>\n

Introduced on Feb. 10, the CLEAR Act<\/a> would require AI developers to disclose the specific training materials they use and file a notice with the Register of Copyrights prior to releasing a new generative AI model that details all of the copyrighted material used in training datasets. <\/p>\n

The bill would then require the Copyright Office to create a new public repository of notices, impose fines for companies that fail to submit disclosures, and ensure that these apply retroactively to currently available AI models, like ChatGPT and Claude. <\/p>\n

\u201cCongress must help encourage AI innovation, but not without transparency and accountability,\u201d Curtis said<\/a>. \u201cThe CLEAR Act strikes the right balance by protecting creators\u2019 intellectual property while providing clear expectations for companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emerging tech for nuclear waste cleanup<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Sens. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, D-N.M., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., introduced a bill to modernize the nuclear waste cleanup process as a means to further support the Department of Energy\u2019s Network of National Laboratories for Environmental Management and Stewardship.<\/p>\n

The Combining Laboratory Expertise to Accelerate Novel Solutions for Minimizing Accumulated Radioactive Toxins \u2014 or CLEAN SMART<\/a> \u2014 Act chiefly seeks to codify the environmental management and stewardship network within Energy. In addition to offering more funding for the network, the bill would leverage the national laboratory apparatus to assist in developing new technologies to facilitate cleanup efforts.<\/p>\n

$55 million would be allocated for the nuclear cleanup efforts for fiscal year 2027 and each year thereafter. Network coordination and operation efforts would receive a separate $3 million schedule for fiscal year 2027 and thereafter, should the bill be passed into law. <\/p>\n

\u201cAcross the country, our National Labs \u2014 like Sandia and Los Alamos \u2014 are home to our brightest minds who drive innovation and scientific advancement,\u201d said Luj\u00e1n<\/a>. \u201cAs we continue to address our nation\u2019s environmental legacy from the Manhattan Project and the Cold War, I\u2019m proud to partner with Senator Scott to introduce the CLEAN SMART Act to leverage the expertise of our National Labs to speed up the cleanup process while saving taxpayers billions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prohibiting adversarial tech tax breaks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, introduced the Deterring Adversarial Access to Americans\u2019 Data Act on Feb. 11, a bill that would revoke tax incentives that motivate the usage of technology linked to foreign adversaries. <\/p>\n

The bill targets a gap within the Internal Revenue Code to extend the Foreign Entity of Concern rules to apply to select energy incentives. The Deterring Adversarial Access to Americans\u2019 Data Act would require companies to eliminate relationships with foreign adversary-controlled technology in order to remain eligible for benefits like research tax credits and subsidized research and development expenses. <\/p>\n

\u201cTaxpayer dollars should not subsidize business decisions that expose American data and supply chains to foreign adversaries,\u201d Moran said<\/a>. \u201cCompanies remain free to choose the technology they use, but eligibility for federal tax incentives is a privilege that should come with a responsibility to protect our economic and national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… environmental review processing with advanced technology<\/span>.\u00c2\u00a0 Specifically, the Council on … clear expectations for companies.\u00e2\u0080\u009d Emerging tech<\/span> for nuclear waste cleanup On … saving taxpayers billions.\u00e2\u0080\u009d Prohibiting adversarial tech<\/span> tax breaks Rep. Nathaniel Moran …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}