FY2026 NDAA, Section 245 ("Biological data for artificial intelligence")

Proposed 2025-03-14 | Enacted 2025-12-18 | Official source

Summary

Requires the Secretary of Defense to develop requirements ensuring DoD-funded biological data resources facilitate AI use. Defines "qualified biological data," includes metrics for data quality, cybersecurity safeguards, privacy protections, and allows national security exceptions. Requires the Secretary to consult relevant sectors about the feasibility of new requirements and review existing frameworks.

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Key facts

🏛️ This document has been enacted by the United States Congress. For authoritative text and metadata, visit the official source.

🎯 This document primarily applies to the government, rather than the private sector.

📜 This document's name is National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, Section 245 ("Biological data for artificial intelligence"). AGORA also tracks this document under the name FY2026 NDAA, Section 245 ("Biological data for artificial intelligence"). It is part of FY2026 NDAA.

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Themes AI risks, applications, governance strategies, and other themes addressed in AGORA documents.

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Risk factors (1)

Security This tag applies to documents that govern the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of AI systems or their inputs.

Governance strategies (1)

Governance development This tag applies to documents that support, encourage, or require the development of, or impose conditions on, other, subsequent public or private governance instruments related to the development or deployment of AI systems.

Full text

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SEC. 245. BIOLOGICAL DATA FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. (a) AI Accessibility to Qualified Biological Data Resources.-- (1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall develop and implement requirements that ensure qualified biological data resources created by research entirely funded by the Department of Defense are collected and stored in a manner that facilitates the use of such qualified biological data resources for advanced computational methods, including artificial intelligence.

(2) Elements.--The requirements implemented under subsection (a) shall include the following: (A) A definition of the term ``qualified biological data resource'' for the purposes of such requirements, which shall be based on one or more of the following criteria: (i) The type of biological data generated. (ii) The size of the dataset involved. (iii) The amount of Federal funds awarded to the research that created such qualified biological data resource. (iv) The level of sensitivity of the biological data generated. (v) Any other factor determined appropriate by the Secretary of Defense. (B) Guidance on the metrics and metadata included under such requirements to indicate data quality, including usability, interoperability, and completeness. (C) Requirements for tiered levels of cybersecurity safeguards and access controls for the storage of biological data. (D) Exceptions to such requirements, including for biological data that may implicate national security. (E) Requirements for the protection of the privacy of individuals.

(b) Consultation and Considerations.--In developing and implementing the requirements under subsection (a), the Secretary shall-- (1) consult with the Secretaries of the military departments, the heads of the research laboratories of each of the Armed Forces, and relevant individuals and entities in the private sector and academia who have received funding for research from the Department of Defense to ensure that such requirements are not overly burdensome; and (2) review and incorporate, to the extent the Secretary determines appropriate, existing Federal frameworks and standards for the use of qualified biological data resources for advanced computational methods.