US HB7968

Secretary of Commerce, through NIST and in consultation with the Small Business Administration, must contract with an appropriate entity to conduct a study on challenges facing U.S. small AI businesses

Study must analyze Federal and non-Federal funding opportunities, including early/seed funding sources, accessibility of Federal funding, timeline for receiving funds, and impact of loan collateral requirements

Study must examine R&D tax credit usage, accelerator/incubator utilization, and downstream impacts of Federal policy on small AI firms including access to computing resources, cloud services, and data

Study must assess regulatory uncertainty's impact on exit strategies, effects of partnerships with larger firms, competition policy frameworks, and talent recruitment/retention challenges

"U.S. small artificial intelligence business" defined as U.S.-headquartered, for-profit, independently owned AI companies with 250 or fewer employees that create, develop, or customize AI products or services as their primary business activity