Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., will soon be introducing legislation to codify the Center for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Standards and Innovation (CAISI) to make permanent its work on AI evaluations and standards.
Obernolte, who chairs the House Science and Technology Committee, announced his work on the forthcoming Great American AI Act during a hearing on Wednesday. The move to codify CAISI, an entity within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), builds on recommendations made by the previous Congress’s Bipartisan AI Task Force, which Obernolte co-led.
While CAISI survived the transition from the Biden administration to the Trump administration, it has undergone changes in its mission statement and name. First created in 2023 under the name U.S. AI Safety Institute (AISI), the institute aimed to lead U.S. efforts on AI safety and trust, including evaluating advanced AI models.
Last June, the Trump administration rebranded AISI as CAISI, dropping the safety from its name, which administration officials said reflected the institute’s shift in focus to embracing innovation and setting AI standards.
CAISI notably released a report in November on how China-based AI DeepSeek compares to leading U.S. AI models and its potential impacts on national security.
“The work [CAISI] does in doing AI model evaluation is essential in creating a regulatory toolbox for our sectoral regulators,” Obernolte said during the Wednesday hearing.
And while AISI and CAISI have had “many of the same functions” across administrations, Obernolte said that he thinks “everyone would agree it’s unhealthy for us to have every successive administration spin up a brand-new agency,” and instead the government needs something with a “long-term mission” and continuity.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, who testified in front of the panel, agreed with Obernolte, saying that he believes codifying CAISI is an “important part of the larger AI agenda” for the Trump administration.
“From my perspective, the most important thing that can be done around CAISI at NIST is to focus on what NIST is really good at,” Kratsios said, referring to comments the official has made about refocusing NIST on standards development.
“It’s absolutely important that the legacy work around standards relating to AI are undertaken by CAISI … and that’s the focus that they should have, because the great standards that are put out by CAISI and by NIST are the ones that ultimately will empower the proliferation of this technology across many industries,” Kratsios added.
Obernolte has also pushed his CREATE AI Act, which would codify the National AI Research Resource to cement its work in AI research and promote responsible use. However, despite optimism expressed by Obernolte that the act would gain traction last year, it is still in limbo after sitting in committee since last March.