119-s2676

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2676 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2676

To require the Director of the National Science Foundation to carry out 
 a cloud laboratory network program, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 August 1, 2025

 Mr. Young (for himself and Mr. Kim) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
 Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To require the Director of the National Science Foundation to carry out 
 a cloud laboratory network program, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Cloud Labs to Advance Biotechnology 
Act of 2025'' or the ``Cloud LAB Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial 
 intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in 

section 5002 
 of the William M.

    (Mac) Thornberry National Defense 
 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9401).

    (2) Authorized research.--The term ``authorized 
 researcher'' means an individual who has been appropriately 
 authorized to access data generated by the cloud laboratories 
 through a process established by the Director in establishing 
 the cloud laboratory network.

    (3) Biological data.--The term ``biological data'' means 
 the information, including associated descriptors, derived from 
 the structure, function, or process of a biological system that 
 is either measured, collected, or aggregated for analysis.

    (4) Cloud laboratory.--The term ``cloud laboratory'' means 
 a physical laboratory that is equipped with research 
 instrumentation and advanced robots that can be programmed and 
 controlled remotely by scientists in order to conduct 
 continuous experiments and collect associated data.

    (5) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
 the National Science Foundation.

    (6) Phase ii cloud laboratory.--The term ``phase II cloud 
 laboratory'' means a cloud laboratory funded by a grant awarded 
 under 

section 3
            (c) .

    (7) Phase iii cloud laboratory.--The term ``phase III cloud 
 laboratory'' means a cloud laboratory funded by a grant awarded 
 under 

section 3
            (d) .

    (8) Under secretary.--The term ``Under Secretary'' means 
 the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology 
 and Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
 Technology.

SEC. 3. CLOUD LABORATORY NETWORK PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Established.--

    (1) Authorization.--The Director, in consultation with the 
 Secretary of Energy, and the Under Secretary, shall carry out a 
 pilot program in accordance with this section that establishes 
 a cloud laboratory network that helps to coordinate the 
 activities of cloud laboratories established by the Director 
 and cloud laboratories independently operated by other entities 
 (such as private industry, government laboratories, and 
 academic institutions), to further the purposes described in 
 paragraph

    (3) .

    (2) Consultation.--The Director shall consult, to the 
 greatest extent practicable, with other departments and 
 agencies involved with cloud laboratories, and any government 
 entities responsible for interagency consultation of 
 biotechnology, such as that in the Executive Office of the 
 President, to deduplicate efforts from different programs, and 
 to increase awareness and connectivity of the cloud laboratory 
 network established under subsection

    (b)

    (1) .

    (3) Purpose of the cloud laboratory network.--The cloud 
 laboratory network described in paragraph

    (1) shall--
        (A) serve the purpose of tracking and cataloging 
 the different biotechnology capabilities at each cloud 
 laboratory;
        (B) help researchers connect to the capabilities 
 needed to pursue a line of research; and
            (C) provide the opportunity for cloud laboratories 
 to connect and collaborate on best practices, including 
 data collection and data sharing, data standards, and 
 needs.

    (4) Cloud laboratory 

=== purposes ===
-Each cloud laboratory 
 supported under this section shall accomplish the following 
 purposes:
        (A) Generate high-quality biological data through 
 automated experimentation that will be collected for 
 use and analysis by authorized researchers for the 
 purposes of training artificial intelligence models or 
 other types of biological data analysis models.
        (B) Provide researchers access to high-quality 
 experimental instrumentation and data collection for 
 the purposes of advancing individual research projects.

    (b) Phase I of Cloud Laboratory Network Pilot Program.--

    (1) Establishment of the cloud laboratory network.--Not 
 later than 360 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
 the Director, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and 
 the Under Secretary, shall establish the cloud laboratory 
 network as described in subsection

    (a)

    (1) .

    (2) Implementation plan.--Not later than 360 days after the 
 date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation 
 with the Secretary of Energy, the Under Secretary, and others 
 as appropriate, shall prepare and submit an implementation plan 
 to Congress that includes the following:
        (A) An assessment of the state of public and 
 private cloud laboratories in the United States, 
 particularly cloud laboratories focused on 
 biotechnology, as of the date of the report, including 
 the number of cloud laboratories, the location of the 
 cloud laboratories, and the financing or payment 
 mechanism for each cloud laboratory.
        (B) An implementation plan for a national cloud 
 laboratory network and an associated grant program that 
 includes a mechanism for deciding on the location of 
 each cloud laboratory funded under the grant program in 
 this section.
            (C) A plan to coordinate the network of cloud 
 laboratories that are already established, in addition 
 to those funded under this section.
            (D) A plan outlining how data generated through the 
 cloud laboratories will be stored, published, and made 
 available and accessible to authorized researchers as a 
 public resource, including a plan to have the data made 
 publicly available in a secure and accessible format.
        (E) A scheme for access to data generated through 
 the cloud laboratories funded under this section and 
 the payment or subscription model that will be required 
 to access the cloud laboratory infrastructure and such 
 data, which--
            (i) describes how users can apply and use 
 the infrastructure for the cloud laboratories 
 funded under this section, giving special 
 consideration toward providing equitable 
 access;
            (ii) allows users doing nonproprietary work 
 to access such cloud laboratories at no or 
 minimal cost; and
            (iii) includes a request for information to 
 industry to understand what companies would 
 need in order to subscribe to such a data 
 generation service.
        (F) An outline of sample intellectual property 
 agreements for the cloud laboratories funded under this 
 section related to all data gathering and 
 experimentation, which may include different agreements 
 in order to further the different purposes described in 
 subsection

    (a)

    (2) .
        (G) A plan for engagement with industry and 
 academic institutions that manage cloud laboratories to 
 include them in the cloud laboratory network.
        (H) A plan for building in considerations related 
 to cybersecurity, biosecurity, and research security 
 from the beginning of development for each cloud 
 laboratory.
            (I) The estimated cost of carrying out the full 
 pilot program establishing the cloud laboratory network 
 broken down by year.

    (3) Cloud laboratory advisory board.--
        (A) Consultation.--In preparing the implementation 
 plan under paragraph

    (2) , the Director shall consult 
 with the advisory board established under this 
 paragraph.
        (B) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after 
 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 
 establish, and lead, a cloud laboratory advisory board 
 (referred to in this paragraph as the ``advisory 
 board'').
            (C) Members.--
            (i) Composition.--The advisory board shall 
 consist of--
            (I) employees of the National 
 Science Foundation and employees of 
 such other Federal agencies as the 
 Director determines appropriate;
            (II) academic researchers in all 
 areas of biotechnology, including 
 computational biology, synthetic 
 biology, cell biology, structural 
 biology, robotics, and analytical 
 chemistry;
            (III) researchers and practitioners 
 in the fields of biosafety, 
 biosecurity, ethics, and relevant 
 social science disciplines; and
            (IV) industry representatives from 
 different sectors of biotechnology, 
 including health, agriculture, chemical 
 production, and platform technologies.
            (ii) Selection.--The selection and number 
 of people on the advisory board shall be at the 
 discretion of the Director.
            (D) Duties.--The advisory board shall--
            (i) propose biological data collection 
 priorities through consultation with the 
 biotechnology research community, including 
 academia and private companies;
            (ii) advise in ways that the cloud 
 laboratories funded under this section are 
 developed and expanded in such a way that 
 maximizes usability across the disciplines of 
 biotechnology while minimizing duplication 
 across the network of cloud laboratories funded 
 under this section;
            (iii) advise on the definition of 
 authorized researcher to ensure research 
 security, but also allow access to all tiers of 
 research and teaching institutions, including 
 primarily undergraduate institutions, minority-
 serving institutions, and historically Black 
 colleges and universities;
            (iv) produce an annual report outlining all 
 recommendations and actions that were taken 
 over the course of the year; and
            (v) provide guidance and recommendations to 
 the Director regarding--
            (I) ensuring that appropriate 
 safeguards are in place to prevent the 
 misuse of cloud laboratories funded 
 under this section;
            (II) ensuring the implementation of 
 a rigorous cybersecurity scheme across 
 the network of such cloud laboratories;
            (III) ensuring that access to the 
 cloud laboratories funded under this 
 section is equitable; and
            (IV) ensuring that such cloud 
 laboratories appreciably increase 
 access to high-end laboratory equipment 
 to otherwise underresourced entities.
        (E) Termination.--The advisory board shall 
 terminate on the date that is 12 years after the date 
 of enactment of this Act.
            (c) Phase II Cloud Laboratory Awards.--

    (1) Awards authorized.--Not later than 2 years after the 
 date of enactment of this Act, and subject to the availability 
 of appropriations, the Director, in consultation with the 
 Secretary of Energy, the Under Secretary, and the relevant 
 individual in the Executive Office of the President responsible 
 for coordinating interagency efforts related to biotechnology, 
 shall, using the process developed in subsection

    (b)

    (2)
        (B) , 
 make grant awards, on a competitive basis, for the development 
 and operation of not fewer than 2 cloud laboratories.

    (2) Operational deadline.--Each phase II cloud laboratory 
 shall be fully operational by the date that is 3 years after 
 the date of enactment of this Act.

    (3) Duration.--An award under this subsection for a phase 
 II cloud laboratory shall be for not less than an 8-year 
 period.
            (d) Phase III Cloud Laboratory Awards.--

    (1) Awards authorized.--Not later than 4 years after the 
 date of enactment of this Act, and subject to the availability 
 of appropriations, the Director, in consultation with the 
 Secretary of Energy and the Under Secretary, shall make grant 
 awards, on a competitive basis, for the development and 
 operation of not fewer than 3 cloud laboratories.

    (2) Relationship to phase ii cloud laboratories.--The phase 
 III cloud laboratories shall be separate, and in addition to, 
 the phase II cloud laboratories.

    (3) Duration.--An award under this subsection for a phase 
 III cloud laboratory shall be for not less than a 6-year 
 period.

    (4) Award basis.--In making awards under this subsection, 
 the Director shall utilize a similar competitive process as 
 used for awards for phase II cloud laboratories, which may be 
 adjusted based on lessons learned from the establishment of the 
 phase II cloud laboratories.

    (e) Cloud Laboratory Pilot Award Program Implementation Reports.--
Beginning 1 year after the date on which all awards are made for phase 
II cloud laboratories, and annually thereafter, the Director shall 
prepare and submit a report to Congress regarding the progress, 
including any successes, of all cloud laboratories supported under the 
pilot grant program under this section.

    (f) Sunset.--This section shall cease to have effect on the date 
that is 12 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
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