S. 3809 — AI Grand Challenges Act of 2026

This section directs the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), in coordination with the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee, to establish within 12 months of enactment the AI Grand Challenges Program to award prizes under 15 U.S.C. 3719 (i.e., the federal prize competition authority) for artificial intelligence research, development, and commercialization addressing grand challenges in specified categories such as national security, cybersecurity, health, energy, environment, transportation, agriculture, education, manufacturing, space, quantum computing, materials science, supply chain resilience, disaster preparedness, natural resources management, and cross-cutting AI issues (e.g., robustness, interpretability, safety, privacy, and bias mitigation). (Thus, NSF rotator program participants may support program development and implementation.) The section requires NSF, after consulting the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and others (e.g., NIST, DARPA, relevant agency heads) and seeking public input, to select challenges; publish problem statements on the NSF website (linking to Challenge.gov); and post on Challenge.gov targets, processes (potentially multi-stage), success metrics, and validation protocols. Additionally, within one year of enactment and in consultation with OSTP and the National Institutes of Health, NSF must establish at least one grand challenge for AI-enabled cancer breakthroughs (i.e., detection, diagnostics, treatments, therapeutics, or other innovations to increase quality-adjusted life years for lethal cancers and comorbidities), awarding at least $10 million in cash prizes to each winner. NSF must develop prize processes, eligibility (requiring private entities to be U.S.-incorporated with a primary U.S. place of business, per 15 U.S.C. 3719(g)(3)), testing, judging, and verification procedures; it may further consult DARPA, NASA, private entities, and nonprofits for best practices.

This section directs the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to coordinate federal agencies that fund science in identifying and publishing data sets for grand challenges—i.e., foundational scientific problems that, if addressed, would significantly advance scientific understanding and that can be addressed through artificial intelligence innovation.