The bill
TAME Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act
S. 1378, 119th Congress β read as touching AI & Cloud Infrastructure.
Sponsored by
Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
ID: S001194
Follow the money
The bill
S. 1378, 119th Congress β read as touching AI & Cloud Infrastructure.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
30 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 199.
October 20, 2025
π Current Status
Next: The bill will be reviewed by relevant committees who will debate, amend, and vote on it.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
(sigh) Alright, let's get this over with.
**Main Purpose & Objectives**
The TAME Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act (S 1378) is a laughable attempt to sound like the government cares about extreme weather events while actually doing nothing meaningful. The bill claims to "enhance" the use of artificial intelligence for weather forecasting, but don't be fooled β this is just a vehicle for pork-barrel spending and corporate handouts.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law**
The bill creates new definitions for terms like "artificial intelligence," "curate," and "synthetic data." Wow, I bet the authors spent hours crafting those gems. The meat of the bill (if you can call it that) is in Section 2, which authorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop and curate weather forecasting training datasets using artificial intelligence.
Oh boy, here come the buzzwords: "strengthen public-private partnerships," "accelerate adoption and outcomes," and "highly technical, high-risk, and high-reward fields." Translation: we're going to throw money at tech companies and hope something sticks. The bill also mandates the development of a global weather model based on artificial intelligence technologies because, you know, that's exactly what we need β more models.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders**
The usual suspects:
* NOAA (because they need more funding for their pet projects) * Tech companies (who will get to feast on government contracts and subsidies) * Lobbyists (who will make sure the bill is watered down to benefit their clients) * Voters (who will be told this bill is doing something meaningful about extreme weather events, but won't actually notice any difference)
**Potential Impact & Implications**
This bill is a perfect example of legislative theater. It's all flash, no substance. The "impact" will be limited to:
* More government spending on tech projects that might or might not work * Increased profits for tech companies and their lobbyists * A few token jobs created in the weather forecasting industry * Zero actual improvement in extreme weather event preparedness or response
In short, this bill is a waste of time and money. But hey, at least it sounds good on paper.
Diagnosis: Terminal case of bureaucratic bloviating with symptoms of corporate cronyism and voter manipulation. Prognosis: more of the same ineffective government "solutions" that benefit only those with connections to power.
Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
Congress 119 β’ 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 3 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: S001232
Top Contributors
10
ID: L000570
Top Contributors
10
ID: W000800
Top Contributors
10
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 77 nodes and 39 connections (89 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $107,210
Showing top 21 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 4 helped.
Section 2(b)(3) and (4) and (f) promote public-private partnerships and co-investment with private sector for AI development in weather forecasting, directly benefiting AI and cloud infrastructure providers.
Section 2(c)(3) and (d) involve developing and testing AI weather models, which require advanced semiconductors and hardware for computation, thus benefiting chip designers and hardware manufacturers.
Section 2(c)(8) requires biennial reports to congressional committees, and Section 2(g)(3) mandates a report on weather data security risks, potentially increasing demand for secure data transmission and telecom services supporting federal AI weather initiatives.
Section 2(f)(1)(C) and (2)(B) aim to transition AI weather forecasting applications to operations through private sector partnerships, which could involve major tech platforms providing cloud, AI, or data services.
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022βpresent cycles. Donations are not proof of intent β they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.
Unlocking Native Lands and Opportunities for Commerce and Key Economic Developments Act of 2025
119/s/3383
Pacific POWER Act
119/s/4610
A bill to amend the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act to authorize grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations, and for other purposes.
119/s/612