DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act
Key claim: The bill authorizes a DOE–NSF memorandum of understanding for collaborative cross-cutting R&D, including artificial intelligence, multi-agency data sharing, research infrastructure, and education and training, with a joint reporting requirement.
Abstract
(HR1350 · 119th Congress) DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act This bill provides statutory authority for a research and development partnership between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Specifically, the bill requires DOE and NSF to enter into a memorandum of understanding to support cross-cutting and collaborative research and development that furthers the missions of both agencies. Through the partnership, DOE and NSF may conduct research in a variety of focus areas (e.g., artificial intelligence), promote multi-agency and cross-sector data sharing, support research infrastructure, and organize education and training initiatives. DOE and NSF must jointly report on their collaboration. Latest action (2025-03-25): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Why this matters
Federal AI R&D capacity is split across DOE (national labs, exascale compute, energy-sector AI) and NSF (academic research, NAIRR, workforce), and coordination has historically been ad hoc. A statutory MOU with joint reporting formalizes that interface and could shape how AI infrastructure, shared datasets, and training pipelines are governed across the two agencies. It is a modest but durable piece of the broader federal AI governance scaffolding taking shape in the 119th Congress.