# 119-s-4656: Secure and Accountable Military AI Act of 2026

119-s-4656, Secure and Accountable Military AI Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-06-19).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4656
- As of: 2026-06-19
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4656
- Congress: 119
- Title: Secure and Accountable Military AI Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-06-02
- Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-06-19

## Summary

**Limits on autonomous weapons** and tighter military AI oversight would bar most autonomous lethal systems and require clear human responsibility, strict testing, and fast reporting for high-risk AI used by the Department of Defense. - Companies building frontier AI models for DoD would face fast security reporting and contract rules. They must report thefts or data-poisoning incidents within 72 hours and material vulnerabilities or dangerous model behavior within 7 days, and provide follow-up updates and protected handling of sensitive information. - The Secretary would have to designate high-consequence AI uses within 180 days and a senior DoD official would need to sign off before deployment. Deployments would have to meet standards like realistic adversarial testing, legal review, operator override authority, logging, and continuous monitoring, and any non-exempt autonomous weapon system would need congressional authorization that lasts up to 3 years. - The bill would bar AI for selecting or launching nuclear weapons and restrict AI collection or analysis targeting United States persons for tracking, pattern-of-life, watchlists, or risk scoring unless authorized by law. It permits narrow defensive AI uses for cybersecurity or force protection with informed consent.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Bans on certain military AI uses: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would bar the Defense Department from developing, buying, or using autonomous weapon systems except in narrow, listed cases that meet strict conditions. Any exception would require Secretary certification and 30 days' notice to congressional defense committees showing legal rev…
- Stricter rules for high-risk military AI: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would require the Secretary of Defense to set a process within 180 days to label Department AI as "high-consequence." Labeled categories would include AI for nuclear targeting support, lethal-targeting support, cyber effects outside DoD systems, autonomous weapon systems, and s…
- Congress approval for autonomous weapons: mixed, high. If enacted, the bill would let the Secretary ask Congress to approve specific autonomous systems that otherwise would be barred. Such requests must include a classified annex with military necessity, operational limits, Law of Armed Conflict legal certification, a risk plan, and a human-judgment fr…
- New AI incident rules for contractors: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would require DoD "covered contractors" on new and existing AI development contracts to report certain AI incidents. Some incidents would need an initial report within 72 hours and other incidents within 7 days. Reports would have to say what happened, dates, affected systems,…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4203: Voter Empowerment Act of 2026
- 119-s-2120: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025
- 119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026
- 119-s-5022: Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act
- 119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act
- 119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-4656 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4656)

## Related
- [119-s-4203: Voter Empowerment Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4203)
- [119-s-2120: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2120)
- [119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5071)
- [119-s-5022: Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5022)
- [119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2819)
- [119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1541)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4656 (as of 2026-06-19).