H.R. 6461

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6461 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6461

To direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop 
best practices and technical guidance on artificial intelligence model 
documentation, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 4, 2025

Ms. McBride (for herself and Mr. Obernolte) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop 
best practices and technical guidance on artificial intelligence model 
documentation, 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 ``Resources for Evaluating and 
Documenting AI Models'' or the ``READ AI Models Act''.

SEC. 2. RESOURCES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODEL DOCUMENTATION.

(a) Resources.--
(1) In general.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Director of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology, in consultation with the heads of 
other Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall initiate a pilot 
program to establish a structured template and associated 
technical guidelines for documentation to accompany artificial 
intelligence models and associated data developed and used by 
the public sector or private sector.
(2) Activities.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, in carrying out paragraph (1), the Director 
shall carry out the following:
(A) Produce a structured template designed to 
enable a user to document information about an 
artificial intelligence model and associated data, 
which may include the following information:
(i) The name of such model.
(ii) The identification of the developer of 
such model.
(iii) The identification of the location 
where such developer is incorporated.
(iv) The release date of such model.
(v) The knowledge cutoff date for such 
model's training data.
(vi) Languages supported by such model.
(vii) Terms of service of such model.
(viii) Any other information the Director 
determines appropriate.
(B) Ensure such template is modular in nature, such 
that users can flexibly adopt and complete sections, 
categories, or other similar components of such 
template in accordance with a specific use case, 
including relating to sector-specific needs, intended 
audiences, and a set of desired characteristics.
(C) Provide detailed technical guidelines 
accompanying such template that--
(i) make available relevant metrics or 
benchmarks for each component of such template 
for a range of artificial intelligence model 
types, as applicable; and
(ii) incorporate voluntary consensus-based 
technical standards and industry best 
practices, as appropriate.
(3) Stakeholder input.--In carrying out paragraph (2), the 
Director shall carry out the following:
(A) Collaborate with private sector entities, 
institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
organizations, international standards organizations, 
and Federal agencies, as the Director determines 
appropriate, including conducting periodic outreach to 
such entities, institutions, organizations, and 
agencies.
(B) Publish in the Federal Register a draft of the 
structured template and associated technical guidelines 
referred to in paragraph (1), and provide an 
opportunity for submission of public comments for a 
period of not less than 60 days to be considered for 
incorporation into such template and guidelines.
(4) Reporting and publication.--Not later than 12 months 
after the date on which the Director establishes the pilot 
program pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director shall carry out 
the following:
(A) Submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
the Senate a report that includes the following:
(i) An assessment on the effectiveness of 
such pilot program.
(ii) If so assessed to be effective, a plan 
for permanent implementation, including 
relating to administration, of such pilot 
program.
(B) Make publicly available on the website of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology the 
structured template and associated technical guidelines 
referred to in paragraph (1), including the 
incorporation of any appropriate comments in accordance 
with paragraph (3)(B).
(5) Definitions.--In this Act:
(A) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the 
Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology.
(B) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial 
intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in 
section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence 
Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).
(C) Artificial intelligence model.--The term 
``artificial intelligence model'' means a software 
component of an information system that implements 
artificial intelligence technology and uses 
computational, statistical, or machine-learning 
techniques to produce outputs from a defined set of 
inputs.
(D) Institution of higher education.--The term 
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning 
given such term in section 101(a) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(E) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit 
organization'' means an organization described in 
section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code.
(F) International standards organization.--The term 
``international standards organization'' has the 
meaning given such term in section 451 of the Trade 
Agreements Act of 1979 (19 U.S.C. 2571).
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