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Bipartisan Senate Bill Aims to Strengthen US National Security Around AI

By  |  November 21, 2025

In a rare flash of cross-aisle cooperation on Capitol Hill, a bipartisan pair of senators is behind a bill that would require the National Security Agency (NSA) to build a security framework for sensitive artificial intelligence systems. The Advanced Artificial Intelligence Security Readiness Act of 2025 was introduce by Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ).

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    The bill charges the NSA’s Artificial Intelligence Security Center with developing a governmentwide security guide detailing the risks associated with model development, training environments and the extended AI supply chain.

    “America’s leadership in advanced technology depends on our ability to protect it. As our foreign adversaries race to steal and exploit cutting-edge AI systems, we must stay ahead of these threats,” Young said in a statement. The bill aims to “ensure the intelligence professionals at NSA have the tools and direction needed to safeguard U.S. innovation and preserve America’s technology advantages.”

    Specifically, the legislation directs NSA to consult with subject matter experts, national laboratories, federally funded research centers, and various federal agencies to identify “potential vulnerabilities and cybersecurity challenges that are unique to protecting covered artificial intelligence technologies and the artificial intelligence supply chain, such as threat vectors that are less common or severe in conventional information technology systems.”

    Read more: Copyright, Antitrust, and the Politics of Generative AI

    Covered technologies include AI systems with “critical capabilities” that “match or exceed human expert performance” in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear matters.

    “AI increasingly powers our defense, intelligence, critical infrastructure, scientific innovation, and much of our economy. If it’s vulnerable, we’re vulnerable,” Kelly said. “This bipartisan legislation gets the NSA prepared to spot attacks early and defend our country’s AI innovation from anyone trying to exploit it.”

    The Arizona Democratic and former NASA astronaut added that they bill stems in part from his AI for America roadmap released in September aimed at making AI “safe, transparent, and accountable.”

    In addition to identifying potential vulnerabilities in AI systems and supply chains, the guide would be required to outline strategies to “identify, protect, detect, respond to, and recover from” from cyber threats and attacks. Those include procedures to protect model weights, ways to mitigate insider threats, network-access control procedures, and counterintelligence and anti-espionage measures.”

    The NSA would be required to issue a report on the guidelines to the congressional intelligence committees within 180 days after enactment and a second report one year later.

    A companion bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).