Bipartisan AI Cyber Defense Act introduced in the House to counter distillation attacks
Representatives Pat Harrigan and George Whitesides introduced the AI Cyber Defense Act in the House on October 22, 2026. The bipartisan bill directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop voluntary standards and best practices to detect and prevent distillation attacks by actors tied to Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, in partnership with private AI developers.
The bill also creates an AI Cybersecurity Roundtable at NIST, bringing together government and industry stakeholders to develop best practices for the defensive use of AI in cybersecurity for critical infrastructure. NIST would begin engaging stakeholders within 180 days of enactment, and the resulting standards would be made public.