NIST launches AI Technology Evaluation platform for model safety testing
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) launched the AI Technology Evaluation (AITE) program on July 27, 2026, providing researchers with an isolated testbed environment to safely evaluate AI models. AITE is a voluntary testing platform focused on AI model safety analysis, offering blind data for models to process without using it as training data. Initially, the platform will evaluate large vision language models on image analysis tasks across three domains: quantum science, genomics, and public safety. Both data providers and model developers must submit materials for testing, with the first evaluations scheduled for August 2026. The program aims to establish a universal rubric for assessing AI model capabilities and determining state-of-the-art performance. AITE represents the latest step in the Trump administration's strategy to collaborate with major AI developers on voluntary model safety submissions, following a May 2026 Commerce Department deal with Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and xAI to evaluate their models through the Center for AI Standards and Innovation.
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