The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the United States Department of Commerce, previously announced the formation of the Artificial Intelligen...
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Department of Commerce.
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the United States Department of Commerce, previously announced the formation of the Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (“AISIC”) through a publication dated November 2, 2023 (88 FR 75276). AISIC brought together more than 280 organizations to develop science-based and empirically backed guidelines and standards for artificial intelligence (AI) measurement, laying a foundation for global AI metrology. Through this succeeding notice, NIST is announcing the retitling of AISIC as the NIST Artificial Intelligence Consortium (“Consortium”), revising the scope of the Consortium's research, and reissuing its invitation to organizations to submit letters of interest in order to collaborate with NIST, non-profit organizations, industry leaders, universities, and other agencies of the Federal Government in addressing the challenges associated with the development and deployment of AI-based innovations. In support of NIST's directives under the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (Pub. L. 116-283), in accordance with Executive Order 14179 issued January 23, 2025 (Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence), and as mandated by America's AI Action Plan, issued July 2025, NIST will utilize the Consortium to empower the collaborative establishment of a new measurement science that will enable the identification of proven, scalable, and interoperable techniques and metrics to promote the development and use of AI. Interested organizations should describe the technical expertise and products, data, and/or models that they will bring to the Consortium to support the Consortium's collaborative research activities. Participation in the Consortium is open to all interested organizations that can contribute their expertise, products, data, and/or models to the Consortium activities. Selected participants will be required to enter into a Consortium Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with NIST. At NIST's discretion, entities that are not legally permitted to enter into CRADAs pursuant to law may be allowed to participate in the Consortium under a separate non-CRADA agreement. Organizations that are already members of the Consortium (“Consortium Members”) are not required to reapply to NIST but may be asked to sign amendments to their current agreements with NIST that reflect the refocused direction of the Consortium.
DATES:
The Consortium's collaborative research activities are ongoing. NIST will accept letters of interest from new organizations to participate in this Consortium on an ongoing basis with regular periods of review for new applicants, likely occurring biannually. The first period of review will begin within 60 days of the publication of this notice, and selection determinations will subsequently be communicated to applicants. Existing Consortium Members will not be required to submit new letters of interest but may be asked to sign amendments to their current agreements within a similar timeframe.
ADDRESSES:
Completed letters of interest may be submitted via the letter of interest webform at
https://www.nist.gov/artificial-intelligence/artificial-intelligence-consortium/LOI,
by email to
aiconsortium@nist.gov,
or with a hardcopy to: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8900, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Organizations whose letters of interest are accepted in accordance with the process set forth in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this notice will be asked to sign a Consortium Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with NIST. The Consortium CRADA template will be made available to selected applicants by NIST's Technology Partnerships Office (TPO).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
J'aime Maynard, Consortia Agreements Officer, NIST's Technology Partnerships Office (TPO), by email to
agreements@nist.gov
or by mail to 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 2200, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Please direct all media inquiries to NIST's Public Affairs Office (PAO) by email to
inquiry@nist.gov
or by phone at (301) 975-2762.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background:
NIST supports the United States in developing standards around emerging technologies, including AI and AI-related systems. In 2019, President Trump issued the first ever Executive Order on AI (E.O. 13859, Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence) (84 FR 3967, February 14, 2019), recognizing that American leadership in AI is of paramount importance to maintaining the economic and national security of the United States. Through Executive Order 14179 (Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence) (90 FR 8741, January 23, 2025), President Trump directed the development of an AI Action Plan to sustain and enhance America's global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security. Released in July 2025, America's AI Action Plan instructs NIST to convene this Consortium to empower the collaborative establishment of new measurement science that will enable the identification of proven, scalable, and interoperable techniques and metrics to promote the development of AI.
( printed page 32008)
Consistent with this directive, the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 charged NIST with,
inter alia:
Advancing collaborative frameworks, standards, guidelines, and associated methods and techniques for AI.
Supporting development of technical standards and guidelines that promote deployment and use of AI systems.
Conducting stakeholder outreach.
This Consortium was first announced by NIST in November 2023 and began its collaborative research activities in 2024. Originally organized into five working groups, the Consortium provided a hub for interested parties to work together in building and maturing a measurement science for trustworthy and responsible AI. Through this current notice, NIST is announcing changes to the organization and structure of the Consortium that will create a greater agility and capacity to initiate and manage projects within the scope of the Consortium's collaborative research plan.
Through the Consortium, NIST will: support work to ensure that frontier AI technology protects free speech and American values; encourage open-source and open-weight AI; enable AI adoption; invest in AI-enabled science; invest in AI interpretability, control, and robustness breakthroughs; build an AI evaluations ecosystem; protect commercial and government AI innovations; promote secure-by-design AI technologies and applications; and ensure that the U.S. Government is at the forefront of evaluating national security risks in frontier models.
Process:
NIST is soliciting responses from all sources of relevant technical capabilities (see below) to enter into a Consortium Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to provide technical expertise and products, data, and/or models to enable innovation, standardization, and interoperability within AI systems. The full project can be viewed at:
https://www.nist.gov/artificial-intelligence/artificial-intelligence-consortium.
Interested parties can submit a letter of interest by visiting the project website at
https://www.nist.gov/artificial-intelligence/artificial-intelligence-consortium/LOI
and completing the letter of interest webform; alternatively, parties can answer the questions detailed in LETTER OF INTEREST, below, and send via email or hardcopy (for reference, see
ADDRESSES
section above). NIST will contact interested parties if there are questions regarding the responsiveness of the letters of interest to the project objective or requirements identified below. NIST will select participants who have submitted complete letters of interest on a first come, first served basis. Selected participants will be required to enter into a Consortium CRADA with NIST. At NIST's discretion, entities that are not legally permitted to enter into CRADAs pursuant to law may be allowed to participate in the Consortium pursuant to separate non-CRADA agreements.
Project Objective:
Artificial intelligence is a revolutionary technology with the potential to transform the global economy and alter the balance of power in the world. To encourage even more extraordinary AI technological innovations, NIST is expanding its AI measurement efforts by harnessing the broader community's interests and capabilities. NIST aims to help enable the identification of proven, scalable, and interoperable measurements and methodologies to promote the development and use of AI.
Building upon its long track record of working with the private and public sectors and its history of reliable and practical measurement and standards-oriented solutions, NIST seeks research collaborators who can support this vital undertaking. Specifically, NIST looks to:
Create a convening space for Consortium Members to engage in informed dialogue and research and development collaborations, striving for open and transparent partnerships;
Bring together stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, as well as strategic international organizations, to work collaboratively to build and mature a new measurement science for secure AI;
Develop science-based and empirically backed guidelines and standards for AI measurement, laying the foundation for AI innovation;
Support U.S. readiness in accelerating the development of next generation AI systems, from frontier models to new applications and approaches, with appropriate risk management strategies;
Align capability evaluations of AI systems and facilitate the creation and use of AI testbeds and test environments; and
Build the foundations and documentation for AI standards generation.
To create a lasting approach for continued joint research and development, NIST will engage stakeholders via this Consortium. The work of the Consortium will be open and transparent, consistent with applicable security requirements, and provide a hub for interested parties to work together in building and maturing a measurement science for AI.
NIST has identified a number of focus areas around which to organize the scope of the Consortium's activities. These include domain-specific application areas that were selected based upon current domestic priorities, alongside additional areas focusing on measurement science and technology with broad applications that underpin the innovation, development, and adoption of AI technologies.
ChemBio
Healthcare
Law Enforcement/Forensic Science
Energy
Agriculture
Communication
Cybersecurity
Privacy Engineering
High-Security AI Data Centers
Authenticating Digital Content
Post-Deployment Monitoring
Automation
Evaluation Methods
Activities of the Consortium are subject to change based upon NIST and U.S. Government priorities and as advances in the technical state of the art open new avenues for scientific inquiry and collaboration. The complete list of ongoing Consortium activities with its goals and outcomes will be made available to the Consortium Members.
If NIST and eligible Consortium Members wish to undertake or develop results in areas relating to national security, such eligible Consortium Members may participate in separate research groups under terms and conditions that vary from those of the Consortium CRADA. The decision of whether or not to participate in a separate national security related research group will not affect any Consortium Members' standing in or ability to participate in any other Task Group.
Eligible Consortium Members that wish to undertake or develop results in areas related to national security concerns, including information that may be classified, will be subject to appropriate risk management strategies and research security requirements. Those requirements will be determined after the launch of the Consortium, if such opportunities arise. All determinations of eligibility for participation in national-security related areas will be at the sole discretion of NIST at the relevant time.
Consortium Members will be expected to contribute:
Technical expertise in one or more of the following areas:
( printed page 32009)
○ Data and data documentation
○ AI Metrology
○ AI Governance
○ AI security vulnerabilities
○ AI system design and development
○ AI system deployment
○ Test, Evaluation, Validation, and Verification methodologies
○ AI Explainability and Interpretability
○ Workforce skills
○ Psychometrics
○ Economic analysis
Models, data, and/or products to support and demonstrate pathways to enable AI systems development
Infrastructure support for Consortium projects
Facility space and organizational support to host Consortium Members for workshops and conferences
Requirements for Letters of Interest
Each responding organization's letter of interest should include the address, point of contact, and the following information:
1. The role(s) the organization might play in the Consortium's efforts.
2. The specific expertise the organization intends to bring to the Consortium.
3. The products, services, data, or other technical capabilities the organization will use in or contribute to Consortium activities.
Letters of interest should not include proprietary information. NIST will not treat any information provided in response to this notice as proprietary information.
NIST cannot guarantee that all submissions will be utilized or that the products proposed by respondents will be used in Consortium activities. Each prospective participant will be expected to work collaboratively with NIST staff and other project participants under the terms of the Consortium CRADA.