Cloud LAB Act of 2025

Summary#

This bill directs the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create a pilot "cloud laboratory network." A cloud laboratory is a physical lab with instruments and robots that scientists can program and control remotely. The network will track and catalog lab capabilities, help researchers find needed equipment and services, and encourage labs to share best practices on data collection, data standards, and data sharing. The NSF Director must consult the Secretary of Energy and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology (NIST) and other agencies when building the network.

The bill requires an implementation plan within 360 days that inventories public and private cloud labs, describes how the national cloud lab network and grant program will be set up, explains how generated data will be stored and made available to authorized researchers, outlines access and payment models (including low-cost access for nonproprietary work), and addresses intellectual property, cybersecurity, biosecurity, and research security. The Director must form an advisory board within 180 days made up of federal employees, academic researchers, biosecurity and ethics experts, and industry representatives; the board must advise on priorities, equitable access, safeguards, and produce annual reports.

The program has phases: phase II requires competitive grants for at least 2 cloud labs (awards made within 2 years, fully operational within 3 years, awards last at least 8 years). Phase III requires competitive grants for at least 3 additional cloud labs (awards made within 4 years, awards last at least 6 years). Annual progress reports to Congress are required starting 1 year after all phase II awards are made. The pilot program and advisory board both end 12 years after the law takes effect.

What it means for you#

• Researchers and institutions: The bill aims to give researchers remote access to automated lab equipment and high-quality biological data. It directs the program to consider equitable access for teaching institutions, minority-serving institutions, and underresourced entities. The implementation plan must describe a payment or subscription model and allow nonproprietary work at no or minimal cost.
• Data and AI researchers: The bill directs cloud labs to generate biological data for use in training artificial intelligence and other analysis models and to make data available to authorized researchers in a secure format.
• Industry and academic lab operators: The bill creates a network to connect public and private cloud labs and asks for engagement plans and sample intellectual property agreements.
• Security and oversight: The bill requires cybersecurity, biosecurity, and research security planning and an advisory board role in advising on safeguards.

Expenses#

The bill does not set specific funding amounts. It requires the NSF Director to include an estimated cost broken down by year in the implementation plan and states that grant awards are "subject to the availability of appropriations." No publicly available information on actual appropriations, total program cost, or specific funding levels is included in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.