CHIPS and Science Act

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-167, enacted August 9, 2022) is best known for its semiconductor manufacturing incentives, but Division B, Title VI of the Act contains the current statutory backbone of US research security law, largely codified at 42 U.S.C. Chapter 163, Subchapter VI.

The provisions that matter for a federally funded researcher

• Malign foreign talent recruitment program prohibition (Section 10632, 42 U.S.C. § 19232) — bars a “covered individual” listed on a federal research award from participating in a program meeting the Act’s statutory definition, effective since May 20, 2024.
• The operative definition sits at Section 10638 (42 U.S.C. § 19237(4)): a program, position, or activity providing compensation — cash, in-kind support including research funding, promised future compensation, complimentary foreign travel, non-de-minimis gifts, honorific titles, or career-advancement opportunities — directly from a foreign country of concern (or an entity based in, funded by, or affiliated with one) to a targeted individual, in exchange for the unauthorised transfer of intellectual property, materials, data, or other nonpublic information owned by a US entity. See the guide to the malign foreign talent recruitment program for the full statutory test, disqualifying features, and exclusions for ordinary scholarly presentation and open academic exchange.
• Research security training (Section 10634, 42 U.S.C. § 19234) — requires covered individuals to complete training on cybersecurity, international collaboration, foreign interference, and disclosure obligations before proposal submission.
• Countries of concern (42 U.S.C. § 19221(a)(1)) — a named statutory list (currently the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, plus any country the Secretary of State later designates) that underpins the malign-foreign-talent-recruitment-program prohibition and agency-level restrictions such as NSF’s Foreign Financial Disclosure Reporting threshold. See the countries-of-concern list for current designations and what each restriction attaches to.

The Act supplements rather than replaces NSPM-33: NSPM-33 is a presidential policy directive with no independent enforcement mechanism of its own, while the CHIPS and Science Act gives several of the same disclosure and training requirements direct statutory force. Agencies have implemented the Act’s provisions on different timelines — NSF’s Important Notice No. 149 phased most requirements in by December 2, 2025, and other agencies have issued parallel notices on their own schedules.