CAISI would benefit from more resources, OSTP director te...

Overview

Bipartisan legislation (H.R. 9363) to codify the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) into law is advancing through Congress, and lawmakers are discussing increasing CAISI’s funding from the current $20 million annually to a potential $100 million. CAISI — formerly the AI Safety Institute — conducts testing and evaluation of AI models and sets standards that will affect government contractors who design, deliver, or operate AI systems for federal customers. Codification plus increased resources will likely broaden CAISI’s statutory authority and expand formal testing or standards-based requirements applied to contracts. Contractors should expect more rigorous evaluation expectations, closer agency coordination, and possible new requirements in solicitations involving AI. Now is the time to inventory AI assets, reassess technical and compliance posture against the named frameworks and agency expectations, and update capture and proposal plans to reflect an evolving regulatory and testing landscape.

Immediate Actions (This Week)

[ ] Monitor progress of H.R. 9363 for text changes, committee actions, and statements that clarify CAISI’s responsibilities and authorities.
[ ] Inventory active and planned AI systems, models, and datasets used on or for government contracts; tag them by function and sensitivity.
[ ] Notify capture and proposal leads of the potential for expanded CAISI testing and standards so bid/no-bid decisions and win themes can be revisited.

Short-Term Actions (30 Days)

[ ] Map current contracts and opportunities to the agencies listed in alerts (e.g., NIST, DOD, DHS (Department of Homeland Security), GSA (General Services Administration), DOE, HHS, VA, DOJ) and to relevant NAICS codes; flag high-exposure items for prioritized review.
[ ] Draft a short AI compliance baseline document describing your model testing workflows, data handling, and any existing third‑party validation to use in proposals and capability statements.

Long-Term Actions (90+ Days)

[ ] Build or enhance an AI testing and validation plan aligned to anticipated standards and testing regimes; include instrumentation to demonstrate reproducible test results and evidence of mitigation for high-risk behaviors.
[ ] Update capture and proposal templates to include CAISI-focused language: evidence of testing, conformity with federal AI guidance, and resource allocations for compliance and retesting as standards evolve.

Compliance Checklist

[ ] NIST AI Risk Management Framework — Review your AI risk assessment practices and align documentation and governance to the framework’s risk management steps.
[ ] FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) — For cloud-hosted AI services used by agencies, confirm current FedRAMP status or plan for FedRAMP authorization if required by customers.
[ ] NIST 800-53 — Ensure controls relevant to system and data protection are mapped where CAISI testing could probe security posture.
[ ] CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) — If you hold DoD (Department of Defense) contracts or subcontract on DoD work, evaluate whether CMMC requirements intersect with AI system handling and evidence readiness.
[ ] FISMA — For systems categorized under FISMA, reconcile FISMA control implementations against potential CAISI testing expectations.
[ ] NIST 800-171 (NIST Special Publication 800-171) — For contracts handling controlled unclassified information and related AI datasets, verify implementation of applicable 800-171 controls.
[ ] OMB AI Guidance — Track and map any agency-level OMB AI guidance that could influence contract requirements or CAISI expectations.

Compliance scope TBD — re-evaluate when official guidance, rulemaking, or solicitation language is published.

Resources

Agencies to watch: NIST, DOD, DHS, GSA, DOE, HHS, VA, DOJ — monitor each agency for follow-on guidance and solicitations.
Internal guidance and learning:
Winning Federal Contracts Guide (/insights/winning-federal-contracts)
CMMC Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide)
CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information)-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide)

How Cabrillo Club Automates This

Cabrillo Signals War Room — Already detected this event and delivered this briefing within minutes. War Room continuously monitors legislative text, committee activity, and agency policy signals so you receive alerts when H.R. 9363 moves, when funding discussions are updated, or when agencies publish CAISI-related guidance. War Room can also surface changes in solicitation language that reference CAISI or CAISI-style testing so capture teams act promptly.
Cabrillo Signals Match Engine — The Match Engine automatically rescors your opportunity pipeline when policy shifts like this change opportunity relevance. It will reprioritize opportunities tied to AI, AI Safety and Testing, and affected agencies and contract vehicles, and will surface contracts on vehicles and NAICS codes shown in your profile so capture teams can focus on the highest-risk, highest-opportunity solicitations.
Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub — The Intelligence Hub tracks affected agencies, NAICS codes, and contract vehicles and lets you save searches for CAISI-related solicitations. Configure saved searches that match AI-related keywords, the listed NAICS codes, and the contract vehicles in your portfolio to get alerts when follow-on solicitations appear on SAM.gov (System for Award Management) matching this event’s profile.
Proposal Studio (Proposal OS) — Proposal Studio generates compliance matrices, first-draft technical approaches, and tailored language using your past performance and the updated compliance baselines. It can produce an AI testing and validation section for proposals and maintain a win-theme library that incorporates CAISI-related proof points automatically.
Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker — The Workflow Tracker runs your 9-gate capture process from identification through post‑submission, automatically routing CAISI- or AI-compliance reviews to contracts and legal, tracking required supplier certifications, and generating audit-ready documentation packages that demonstrate testing and evidence trails required by evaluators.

Explore these features in your Cabrillo Club workspace to automatically surface, prioritize, and respond to CAISI-related requirements and opportunities.