Study and report on entities that conduct assurances of artificial intelligence systems

(a) Study Not later than 90 days after the date on which the Director publishes the voluntary technical guidelines and specifications required under section 4(a), the Secretary shall commence a study to evaluate the capabilities of the sector of entities that conduct internal artificial intelligence assurances and external artificial intelligence assurances. (b) Considerations In carrying out the study required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall— (1) assess the capabilities of the sector of entities described in subsection (a) with respect to personnel, technical tools, evaluation methods, computing infrastructure, and physical infrastructure and whether such capabilities are adequate for providing internal artificial intelligence assurances or external artificial intelligence assurances that comport with the voluntary technical guidelines and specifications required under section 4(a); (2) review the features, best practices, and safeguards employed by such entities to maintain the integrity of confidential or proprietary information of a developer or deployer during an internal artificial intelligence assurance or an external artificial intelligence assurance; (3) assess the market demand for internal artificial intelligence assurances and external artificial intelligence assurances and the availability of such assurers; and (4) assess the feasibility of leveraging an existing facility accredited by the Director under the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program established under part 285 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, to conduct external assurances of artificial intelligence systems. (c) Report Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Secretary commences the study required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress and the head of any Federal agency that the Secretary considers relevant, a report that contains the results of the study required by subsection (a), including— (1) recommendations for improving the capabilities and the availability of the entities assessed in the study; (2) descriptions of the features, best practices, and safeguards of the entities studied and the effectiveness of such features, practices, or safeguards at implementing the voluntary technical guidelines and specifications required under section 4(a) and at maintaining the integrity of confidential and proprietary information, as described under subsection (b)(2); and (3) any conclusions drawn from the assessment of the facilities described in subsection (b)(4). (d) Appropriate committees of Congress defined In this section, the term the appropriate committees of Congress means— (1) the Committee of Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and (2) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives.