HR 10594 — 119th Congress

Reliable Artificial Intelligence Research Act of 2026

Introduced Sep 24, 2026 Open for voting
Note: Bill summaries and components on this page are AI-generated and may contain errors. Always consult the original bill text and official sources before relying on this information.
← Open legislation
Click Vote to enable simultaneous voting.

Core Policy Mechanism Top 2

Prize competition for AI interpretability research

Requires the Department of Homeland Security to run at least one prize competition to advance research on making AI systems more understandable. Sets consultation requirements, allows multi-phase structures, and permits outside contractors to administer competitions. Requires the Department of Homeland Security to run at least one prize competition to develop AI models that resist attacks or manipulation in high-risk government and industry settings. Allows multi-phase structures including red-teaming and outside administration.

  • Population Scope Low Directly affects a narrow population of AI researchers, technology firms, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) staff who design or compete in the prize competitions.
  • Budgetary Magnitude Low This component creates the mandate and authority for competitions but does not itself authorize or appropriate funds; spending authority is established separately in the appropriations section.
  • Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Creates new statutory duties on DHS — mandatory commencement deadlines, consultation requirements, and contracting authority — binding agency conduct rather than altering substantive rights across the regulated public.
  • Degree of Discretion Granted Medium Blends mandatory elements (must commence at least one competition within 270 days) with broad discretionary authority over structure, phasing, evaluation criteria, and choice of outside administrators.
  • Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Imposes no penalties, compliance obligations on private parties, or new enforcement infrastructure; burden is limited to internal agency planning and contracting activity.
  • Temporal Commitment Low The obligation to commence competitions is tied to a fixed funding window ending in FY2031, giving it an effective horizon of under ten years absent new congressional action.
No signal yet

Funding / Appropriations Top 2

Authorizes $10M for AI research competitions 2027–2031

Authorizes $10 million in federal funding over fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to support the prize competitions and related activities under this act.

  • Population Scope Low Directly affects only Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the small universe of organizations and researchers eligible to participate in or administer the prize competitions.
  • Budgetary Magnitude Low $10 million discretionary authorization spread across five fiscal years is a modest federal outlay with no mandatory spending component and no guaranteed annual appropriation.
  • Legal / Regulatory Depth Low Creates a standard discretionary authorization of appropriations — a narrow administrative vehicle that enables but does not compel spending, leaving substantive law unchanged.
  • Degree of Discretion Granted Low Provides a ceiling authorization with no mandated annual allocation, leaving Congress and DHS full discretion over actual spending levels each year.
  • Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low An authorization of appropriations imposes no enforcement obligations, compliance requirements, or administrative machinery beyond what the substantive competition provisions already establish.
  • Temporal Commitment Low Funding authority expires at the end of FY2031, a hard endpoint within ten years that self-terminates unless Congress affirmatively extends it.
No signal yet

No possible riders have been surfaced for this bill.

Summary

This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to run prize competitions to improve two areas of artificial intelligence (AI) research: making AI systems easier to understand (interpretability) and making them harder to trick or break (adversarial robustness). Winners would be selected based on how broadly useful and practical their solutions are. The bill sets aside $10 million over five years to fund these efforts. Among other elements, the bill * requires DHS to launch at least one prize competition focused on AI interpretability within about nine months of enactment; * requires DHS to launch at least one prize competition focused on AI adversarial robustness within the same window; * authorizes DHS to contract with outside organizations to design and run the competitions; * and authorizes $10 million in federal funding over fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out the act.

AI-generated summary, pending human review.

Full bill text rendering is coming soon.

In the meantime, read the full text on Congress.gov ↗.

Version Event Date User support Your vote Roll calls
Original
Initial publication
Sep 24, 2026
Sep 24, 2026 No votes yet — —

Core Policy Mechanism Top 2

Prize competition for AI interpretability research

Requires the Department of Homeland Security to run at least one prize competition to advance research on making AI systems more understandable. Sets consultation requirements, allows multi-phase structures, and permits outside contractors to administer competitions. Requires the Department of Homeland Security to run at least one prize competition to develop AI models that resist attacks or manipulation in high-risk government and industry settings. Allows multi-phase structures including red-teaming and outside administration.

  • Population Scope Low Directly affects a narrow population of AI researchers, technology firms, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) staff who design or compete in the prize competitions.
  • Budgetary Magnitude Low This component creates the mandate and authority for competitions but does not itself authorize or appropriate funds; spending authority is established separately in the appropriations section.
  • Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Creates new statutory duties on DHS — mandatory commencement deadlines, consultation requirements, and contracting authority — binding agency conduct rather than altering substantive rights across the regulated public.
  • Degree of Discretion Granted Medium Blends mandatory elements (must commence at least one competition within 270 days) with broad discretionary authority over structure, phasing, evaluation criteria, and choice of outside administrators.
  • Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Imposes no penalties, compliance obligations on private parties, or new enforcement infrastructure; burden is limited to internal agency planning and contracting activity.
  • Temporal Commitment Low The obligation to commence competitions is tied to a fixed funding window ending in FY2031, giving it an effective horizon of under ten years absent new congressional action.
No signal yet

Core Policy Mechanism

Prize competition for AI interpretability research

Funding / Appropriations Top 2

Authorizes $10M for AI research competitions 2027–2031

Authorizes $10 million in federal funding over fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to support the prize competitions and related activities under this act.

  • Population Scope Low Directly affects only Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the small universe of organizations and researchers eligible to participate in or administer the prize competitions.
  • Budgetary Magnitude Low $10 million discretionary authorization spread across five fiscal years is a modest federal outlay with no mandatory spending component and no guaranteed annual appropriation.
  • Legal / Regulatory Depth Low Creates a standard discretionary authorization of appropriations — a narrow administrative vehicle that enables but does not compel spending, leaving substantive law unchanged.
  • Degree of Discretion Granted Low Provides a ceiling authorization with no mandated annual allocation, leaving Congress and DHS full discretion over actual spending levels each year.
  • Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low An authorization of appropriations imposes no enforcement obligations, compliance requirements, or administrative machinery beyond what the substantive competition provisions already establish.
  • Temporal Commitment Low Funding authority expires at the end of FY2031, a hard endpoint within ten years that self-terminates unless Congress affirmatively extends it.
No signal yet

Funding / Appropriations

Authorizes $10M for AI research competitions 2027–2031