The Senator in our interview expressed a desire to help steer South Dakota towards leading in Artificial intelligence and expanding technical education for students.
Advocate for South Dakota to lead in artificial intelligence and expand technical education for students.
Occurrences
SDSU’s leadership team understands that AI is critical for the future. They’re committed to teaching their students to harness the power of AI rather than run from it. I look forward to working with the university to shape the use of AI in South Dakota.
Evidence
To ensure its graduates are ready to thrive in an increasingly AI-driven world, South Dakota State University has announced the establishment of the Center for AI Innovation and Emergent Technologies. To establish the center and address challenges related to AI, U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds has secured $750,000 in federal appropriations under the 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies bill.
The Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering at South Dakota State University will host the Innovate AI 2026 Symposium, a one-day convening of leaders from academia, industry, government and the startup ecosystem to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming critical sectors of regional and national importance. Opening remarks will be delivered by U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, underscoring the significance of AI innovation to South Dakota’s future and the nation’s security and economic competitiveness.
U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and his bipartisan Senate AI Working Group recently released a roadmap for artificial intelligence. This report summarizes the findings from their AI insight forums and lays out policy topics that the group believes merit bipartisan committee consideration in the 118th Congress and beyond in order to solidify the United States as a leader in AI. Many of these topics will impact life in South Dakota, including health care, journalism, education, agriculture, the financial industry and more.
U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced the Creating Resources for Every American To Experiment with Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023 (CREATE AI Act). This bipartisan legislation establishes the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) as a shared national research infrastructure that provides AI researchers and students with greater access to the complex resources, data, and tools needed to develop safe and trustworthy artificial intelligence.
Senator Mike Rounds is lauding Governor Larry Rhoden’s work on developing the South Dakota Defense Institute. The institute will serve as a central hub to coordinate industry, education and government partnerships, ultimately with the goal of helping contractors set up shop in South Dakota. Rounds explained to KOTA Territory News that with the base growing he feels its critical to have coordination between federal, state and local governments to develop timelines for defense contractors to open offices near the base.
To establish the center and address challenges related to AI, U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds has secured $750,000 in federal appropriations under the 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies bill.
Opening remarks will be delivered by U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, underscoring the significance of AI innovation to South Dakota’s future and the nation’s security and economic competitiveness.
U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), co-chairs of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus, today introduced legislation aimed at improving health outcomes for Medicare patients by encouraging the use of cutting-edge, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled medical devices.
U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and his bipartisan Senate AI Working Group recently released a roadmap for artificial intelligence. This report summarizes the findings from their AI insight forums and lays out policy topics that the group believes merit bipartisan committee consideration in the 118th Congress and beyond in order to solidify the United States as a leader in AI.
U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), co-chairs of the Senate Artificial Intelligence (AI) Caucus, today reintroduced the MedShield Act of 2025. This legislation would implement a recommendation of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence to create a program titled MedShield to leverage AI for national pandemic preparedness and response.
Today, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Mike Rounds introduced the Literacy in Future Technologies (LIFT) Artificial Intelligence Act, bipartisan legislation to improve artificial intelligence literacy as part of students’ K-12 education. Rounds said the bill would support American education and an AI-ready workforce.
Rounds’ FY 2026 appropriations requests include “Preparing GenAI Expertise for the Future: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Literacy and competency Across the SDSU Curriculum,” with a project purpose “to develop high levels of student GenAI literacy and competency across the curriculum at South Dakota State University.”
Mike Rounds's official legislation tracker shows AI- and education-related cosponsorships updated on 2026-05-21 (S.4627, access to artificial intelligence through USDA programs) and 2026-04-28 (S.4414, AI literacy in elementary and secondary school). No newer AI or education legislative entry appears on the page in the 2026-06-19 to 2026-06-21 lookback window.
The official press-release archive's newest listed item is dated 2026-06-16 and concerns Senate Armed Services Committee NDAA work; the archive does not show any AI or technical-education release in the 2026-06-19 to 2026-06-21 lookback window.
Rounds announced committee passage of the FY2027 NDAA and said that, as Cybersecurity Subcommittee chair, he was pleased with cyber provisions and efforts to accelerate AI adoption. His listed South Dakota provisions included $10 million for Cold Regions Advanced Materials and Manufacturing research at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, $10 million for large-area additive manufacturing work by VRC Metal Systems and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, $5 million for sodium battery research at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and $30 million for the University Consortium for Cybersecurity including Dakota State University. The listed national provisions included AI model source-attribution requirements and AI governance rules for the Department of Defense.
The Senate Armed Services Committee executive summary for the FY2027 NDAA lists cybersecurity, data, and artificial intelligence provisions including codifying the DOD review process for autonomous weapon systems and AI capabilities, establishing a DOD-wide ecosystem for agentic AI systems, directing security standards for AI agents, and assessing the effects of AI adoption on warfighter skills.
Rounds's official press-release archive showed lookback-window releases dated 2026-06-25, 2026-06-24, 2026-06-23, and 2026-06-16. The first three concerned Mount Rushmore fireworks, abortion legislation, and Postal Service complaints; the only lookback-window item with AI or technical-education relevance was the 2026-06-16 NDAA release.
Rounds's official legislation tracker listed S.4627, a bill to increase access to artificial intelligence through USDA programs, updated 2026-05-21; S.4441, a bill to establish the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource, updated 2026-04-29; and S.4414, a bill to improve AI literacy in elementary and secondary schools, updated 2026-04-28. The page did not show a newer AI or education legislative entry in the 2026-06-09 to 2026-07-08 lookback window.
Rounds's FY2026 appropriations requests listed the project 'Preparing GenAI Expertise for the Future: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Literacy and competency Across the SDSU Curriculum' for South Dakota State University, with the purpose 'to develop high levels of student GenAI literacy and competency across the curriculum' and an amount requested of $1,000,000.
GovInfo lists S.4414, the Literacy in Future Technologies Artificial Intelligence Act, as introduced on April 28, 2026 by Senator Schiff for himself and Senator Rounds. The full title is to improve educational efforts related to artificial intelligence literacy at the elementary school and secondary school level. The bill text states that the United States should provide youth opportunities to build skills needed for AI technology and supports awards for K-12 AI curricula, instructional material, teacher professional development, and AI literacy evaluation methods.
Assessments
Rounds materially advanced both parts of the promise during his current Senate term: he co-led Senate AI policy work, introduced or cosponsored AI-related bills including K-12 AI literacy legislation, sought and reportedly secured federal support for South Dakota State University AI literacy and innovation work, and advanced AI/cybersecurity and South Dakota technical-research provisions through the Senate Armed Services Committee NDAA process. Because the promise is framed as advocacy rather than requiring full enactment of a single statutory outcome, these actions satisfy delivery in the same federal term.
Rounds appears to have materially advanced both parts of the promise during his Senate term: he co-sponsored and reintroduced AI-focused legislation, released an AI roadmap, sought appropriations for an AI innovation center at SDSU, and backed AI literacy measures for students. That is strong direct candidate credit for promoting South Dakota as an AI leader and expanding technical education, not merely incidental support by others.
Sen. Mike Rounds has actively advanced both parts of the promise while in office: he co-chaired the Senate AI Caucus and released an AI roadmap (2024), co-introduced national AI access legislation (CREATE AI Act, 2023) and AI-health bills (MedShield, 2025), and led forums/symposia to position South Dakota in AI. For technical education, he co-introduced the bipartisan LIFT AI literacy K-12 bill (2026), submitted FY2026 appropriations requests for GenAI curriculum work, and secured $750,000 in federal appropriations to establish the Center for AI Innovation and Emergent Technologies at South Dakota State University (2026). These concrete legislative, funding, and advocacy actions meaningfully advance South Dakota leadership in AI and expanded student technical education.
Multiple pieces of evidence confirm that Senator Mike Rounds took significant legislative and executive actions to advocate for South Dakota's leadership in artificial intelligence and the expansion of technical education for students. He secured substantial federal funding for a university AI center, led or co-led relevant national legislation, released a bipartisan AI roadmap, participated in high-profile AI symposia, and fostered industry, government, and education partnerships. These efforts directly align with the campaign promise and demonstrate that the intended outcomes were substantially achieved during the same term.
Multiple pieces of evidence confirm that Senator Mike Rounds actively advocated for South Dakota's leadership in artificial intelligence and the expansion of technical education. He secured federal funding for AI centers in state universities, facilitated public-private partnerships, promoted AI innovation events, released policy roadmaps, and co-sponsored national legislation to enhance AI education and research access. The documented activities directly align with the scope of the campaign promise and occurred within the same term.