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S. 3809

BillFederalSenateIn Committee
AI Grand Challenges Act of 2026
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · February 9, 2026
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congress
119th (2025–2027)
Introduced
February 9, 2026
Cosponsors (2)
1D 1R
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Summary

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The AI Grand Challenges Act authorizes the National Science Foundation to establish a competitive prize program aimed at accelerating artificial intelligence research and development in areas critical to the nation. The program will award cash prizes of at least $1 million per winner to researchers and companies developing AI solutions for specific challenges across 16 categories, including national security, healthcare, energy, transportation, and quantum computing. The bill requires the NSF Director to work with other federal agencies and the public to identify and define these challenges within 12 months of enactment, with clear success metrics published on the government's Challenge.gov platform. One mandatory competition focuses on AI-enabled cancer breakthroughs with minimum prizes of $10 million per winner. Eligible participants must be U.S.-based private entities or U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and the NSF can accept additional funding from other federal agencies, states, and private organizations to support the program. The Director must submit progress reports to Congress within 60 days of each award and biannually thereafter.

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