AI Cyber Grid Protection Act

Summary#

This bill would create a grant program run jointly by the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Secretary of Homeland Security. The agencies must set up the program within 180 days of enactment. The program would award grants in each fiscal year from 2026 through 2030 to eligible entities (institutions of higher education, National Laboratories, or consortia of those entities) to develop secure artificial intelligence (AI) cyber-physical testbeds. The testbeds are meant to simulate grid-scale cyberattacks and to train AI models safely. The bill authorizes $100,000,000 to be appropriated for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to make these grants. It also requires the agencies to submit a report to Congress one year after enactment and annually through 2031 describing evolving threats, AI mitigation progress, and recommendations for further legislative or regulatory action. The bill defines ‘‘AI’’ by reference to section 238(g) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 and specifies which entities are eligible. The bill was introduced on February 25, 2026, and referred to the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection.

What it means for you#

  • If you work at or run an eligible institution (a public college or university, community college, Hispanic-serving institution, a National Laboratory, or a qualifying consortium), your organization could apply for grant funding to build or run an AI cyber-physical testbed that simulates large-scale grid cyberattacks and trains AI systems in a controlled environment.
  • The program must be established within 180 days of the bill becoming law, and grants would be available for fiscal years 2026–2030.
  • The required annual reports to Congress could lead to future legislative or regulatory actions, but the bill itself only creates the grant program and reporting requirement.

Expenses#

  • The bill authorizes $100,000,000 to be appropriated for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to make grants under the program.
  • No publicly available information on grant size, allocation breakdown, matching requirements, administrative costs, or other budget details is provided in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.