This bill directs the National Science Foundation to create a National Programmable Cloud Laboratories Network of up to six research sites, or nodes, where scientists can remotely conduct automated experiments using robotics and artificial intelligence. Within one year of enactment, the NSF Director must select these nodes from universities, nonprofits, private companies, or partnerships among them through a competitive process that favors applicants with existing lab infrastructure and outside financial support. Each node can receive up to five million dollars annually for five years, with total program funding set at thirty million dollars per year from 2026 through 2030, and the initiative is designed to eventually reduce dependence on federal money through user fees and industry partnerships. The network aims to boost U.S. leadership in scientific automation, cut research costs, speed up the transfer of federally funded discoveries into commercial products, and strengthen collaboration between government, academia, and industry, particularly in fields like biotechnology, materials science, and chemistry. The bill also requires standards for data sharing and interoperability among nodes, an assessment of other labs not chosen for the network, and annual progress briefings to Congress, with the entire program scheduled to end on September 30, 2031 unless renewed.
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