AI Grand Challenges Act of 2026

This legislation, titled the "AI Grand Challenges Act of 2026," directs the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a program within 12 months to award competitive prizes for artificial intelligence (AI) research, development, and commercialization. This "AI Grand Challenges Program" will stimulate innovation to solve or advance specific, measurable grand challenges across a wide range of categories, including national security , health , energy , environment , and cross-cutting AI issues like robustness, safety, and bias mitigation. The program will utilize existing prize competition authorities and processes. The Director of the NSF must consult with the Office of Science and Technology Policy, other federal agencies, and seek public input to identify and select these grand challenges, ensuring they are ambitious yet achievable. A specific requirement is the establishment of at least one grand challenge within one year for AI-enabled cancer breakthroughs , with a minimum prize award of $10,000,000. For other challenges, prize awards will be at least $1,000,000, and eligibility is restricted to U.S.-based entities or citizens. Additionally, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy is tasked with coordinating federal agencies to identify and publish relevant data sets for these grand challenges.