NOAA gets AI weather forecasting—but private partners may own the models
H.R. 2770 — TAME Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act · Filed by C. Franklin (R-FL) · Introduced Apr 9, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill directs NOAA to develop artificial intelligence weather forecasting models and fire prediction systems to improve extreme weather and wildfire preparedness. It requires NOAA to create training datasets, test AI weather models, provide technical assistance to forecasters and emergency managers, and partner with private companies and universities on AI innovation—with most data released publicly at no cost under open licenses.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a directed investment in NOAA's capacity to develop and deploy AI for weather and wildfire forecasting as a public good. While it includes private-sector partnerships and IP protections, the primary beneficiary is the public through improved forecasts and open data access.
What the text implies
- Section 7(b) permits 'shared rights to intellectual property' from federally funded R&D—private partners may gain commercial rights to AI models developed with taxpayer funding, creating a subsidy pathway for private weather-tech companies.
- Section 5(d) authorizes NOAA to contract with the National Academy of Sciences or 'any other entity' for independent assessment of AI models—undefined scope and entity selection may create consulting contracts with minimal oversight.
- Section 6(c) permits NOAA to 'enter into contracts to acquire relevant data'—no cap on spending or competitive bidding requirement stated, potentially enabling high-cost data purchases from private vendors.
- Section 8(b) leverages 'public-private partnership models' for workforce training—private sector experts embedded in federal workforce development may influence hiring, training, and operational priorities toward commercial interests.
- Data release under 'open license' (Section 9) is discretionary ('may make available')—NOAA retains unilateral authority to withhold any model, data, or code citing national security, IP, trade secrets, or contract restrictions, with no appeal or transparency mechanism.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens gain improved weather and wildfire forecasting, emergency preparedness tools, and free public access to AI models and datasets. The bill mandates continued support for traditional weather observation and modeling alongside AI innovation, protecting existing capabilities while advancing new ones.
Who stands to gain
- Private weather-tech and AI companies (via IP-sharing partnerships and data contracts)
- Academic research institutions (cooperative institutes, research funding)
- Consulting firms and systems integrators (workforce training, model assessment contracts)
- Data vendors and remote-sensing companies (data acquisition contracts)
Named in the bill
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy, Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security, National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), National Academy of Sciences, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Where it stands
- Apr 9, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 9, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,005,758 in lobbying spend. A filing names 133 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
C. Franklin, the sponsor, reported $392,586 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies — $1,005,758 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (14,579 characters) on Sep 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 15,166 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-26.
“NOAA gets AI weather forecasting—but private partners may own the models” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr2770 Report an error