For those who want to see Congress pass sweeping rules around protecting kids online, time is running out before the election, Ashley and Maria report.

The big picture: Kids' online safety advocates and lawmakers who've been pushing for legislation that would change how tech companies treat minors online want their bills attached to the FAA reauthorization package, which is the last major must-pass bill before the election.

• That includes COPPA 2.0, an update to existing online children's privacy protections, and the Kids Online Safety Act, which would require platforms to change their designs and features for younger users.

Friction point: Important players including House Speaker Mike Johnson don't want to make FAA a "Christmas tree" of unrelated bills, per a Johnson spokesperson.

• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is more open to amendments.

Yes, but: Schumer alone can't jam additional provisions into the package.

What they're saying: "Now we find out if Congress is actually serious about protecting kids online or is content with endless hearings and soundbites," said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, a group that's been pushing for the bills.

The other side: Some tech and LGBTQ+ groups are still opposed to KOSA, arguing that it would give state attorneys general — some with anti-LGBTQ agendas — too much power to restrict content for vulnerable communities.

• "We urge you to exclude KOSA as non-germane from legislation brought to the floor," groups including Chamber of Progress, LGBT Tech and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation wrote to Senate leaders last week.

Behind the scenes: Kids' online safety as an issue is on Johnson's list of priorities before the end of the year, one child advocacy group that met with his staff last week told Axios.

• Johnson's office also told the group that it is closely coordinating with the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The intrigue: Whether or not these bills make it onto the FAA reauthorization, momentum around federal privacy legislation will keep them in play in the coming months.

• Pressure from parent groups and advocacy organizations won't let up either.

What's next: Advocates would rather see kids bills pass as soon as possible but say the topic's bipartisan support ensures the issue won't die if there is a change of the makeup of Congress or a new administration.

• "I think they would have a chance regardless of what happens in the election," Golin said. "But no one wants to gamble on the future, especially when the harms to children are ongoing."
• "We are focused on any vehicle available to get KOSA and COPPA 2.0 passed in this Congress.… The large coalition of supporters behind these bills is not going away because the issue is not resolved," said Daniel Weiss, chief advocacy officer at Common Sense Media.

The government today announced the first round of projects that will access the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource pilot, Maria reports.

Why it matters: The projects will aim to advance deepfake detection, AI safety and medical diagnosis — some of the most pressing issues policymakers point to for advancing the technology responsibly.

Driving the news: The National Science Foundation and Energy Department announced 35 projects that will be supported through the NAIRR pilot.

• They'll receive access to advanced computers to tackle critical AI priorities.

The big picture: NAIRR is meant to help expand access to AI so that not just tech giants can use powerful technology.

• In addition to having computational access, AI developers such as Hugging Face say knowledge sharing and collaboration are crucial for AI democratization.
• Other smaller open source actors pushing for AI openness in the NAIRR include EleutherAI, Databricks and AI2.

What they're saying: NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan said the agency plans to rapidly expand partnerships and secure the investments needed to realize the NAIRR vision.

• NAIRR "is a fantastic endeavor that will reach its full success if it can bring more diverse perspectives and more openness to the study and development of AI systems," Yacine Jernite, Hugging Face machine learning and society lead, said in a statement.

What's next: The next application opportunity for NAIRR was opened today, including for AI research related to cloud computing platforms, access to foundation models and privacy-enhancing tools.

• This round includes resources from Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, OpenAI, Anthropic and other private sector partners.

Here's what's happening on Capitol Hill.

1. Data security: On Wednesday at 2:30pm ET, the Senate Commerce consumer protection, product safety and data security subcommittee convenes a hearing on "strengthening data security to protect consumers."

2. IP enforcement: The House Judiciary subcommittee on courts, Intellectual property, and the internet holds a hearing tomorrow at 10am ET on the executive branch's enforcement of IP.

3. DPA discussion: The House Financial Services national security panel gathers Wednesday at 2pm ET for its second hearing to review the Defense Production Act in anticipation of its 2025 reauthorization.

• The AI executive order uses the DPA to make AI developers share information with the government, which some Republicans have criticized.