U.S. Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) and Scott Franklin (R-FL) on July 23 proposed a bipartisan bill that would establish a national framework for regulating the development and deployment of the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models.
The Frontier Risk Oversight, National Transparency, Independent Evaluation, and Reporting (FRONTIER) Act, H.R. 9925, would create a risk-based system with oversight requirements that vary based on the size of AI developers.
The bill also would set uniform national standards for transparency, independent audits, incident reporting, and assessments of catastrophic risk to avoid a patchwork of state regulations, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.
“Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly and Congress must ensure our regulatory framework keeps pace without undermining American innovation,” said Rep. Obernolte, who sponsored H.R. 9925. “The FRONTIER Act focuses oversight on the largest developers and most advanced models, requiring transparency, independent evaluation, and timely reporting of serious safety incidents.
“This legislation will protect Americans from catastrophic risk, provide developers with clear rules of the road, and ensure the United States remains the global leader in AI,” he added.
The measure, which has five original cosponsors, including Rep. Franklin and U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA), would establish tiered requirements based on the size of a frontier AI developer, including model cards, risk-management frameworks, independent audits, incident reporting, and ongoing assessments, the summary says.
“The FRONTIER Act recognizes that not every AI developer should be regulated the same way,” said Rep. Franklin. “It takes a targeted approach by focusing only on the handful of companies developing the most powerful frontier AI models, not the startups and innovators driving America’s AI ecosystem.”
By tying coverage to substantial AI research and development investments and requiring transparency and independent assessments from those developers, the bill would avoid one-size-fits-all mandates, Rep. Franklin added.
And it would allow “smaller innovators to spend their time building new technologies instead of navigating unnecessary federal red tape,” he said.