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Department of Commerce (DOC)

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This profile outlines the US Department of Commerce (DOC), focusing on its organizational structure and its role in AI and biosecurity policy. See also our complimentary profile on the DOC’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS):

DOC > Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)

BIS is the lead agency tasked with administering and enforcing export controls on dual-use items and technology. It’s central to US AI and biosecurity policy efforts, as it controls the export of high-performance semiconductors and biological equipment and materials.

Overview

The Department of Commerce (DOC or “Commerce”) aims to create the conditions for economic growth by driving US economic competitiveness, strengthening domestic industry, and spurring innovation and job growth. It oversees wide-ranging activities such as data collection, export regulation, technological standard-setting, intellectual property registration, and research grantmaking.

Commerce has taken on significant AI-related responsibilities in recent years, including developing guidelines, overseeing semiconductor technology exports, and promoting domestic semiconductor manufacturing. Some Commerce components central to this role are the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which handles export controls and data collection authorities (under the DPA and IEEPA); the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which leads in setting AI standards and hosts the CHIPS Office that disperses funding for domestic semiconductor production and the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) to set up a new set of standards for AI; and the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning (OPSP) within the Office of the Secretary, which advises the Secretary on the Department’s strategic direction.

Commerce also plays a role in biosecurity by regulating the export of sensitive biological materials and technologies and by fostering innovation in biotechnology. Commerce is one of the co-chairs of the National Bioeconomy Board, which is made up of senior leaders from 12 departments and agencies and meant to further the goals of the 2022 Executive Order on Advancing the American Bioeconomy. Through BIS, Commerce enforces export controls to prevent the misuse of dual-use technologies in the development of chemical and biological weapons, adhering to international frameworks like the Australia Group. NIST supports biotech innovation by developing standards and frameworks critical for public health and biosecurity, including for gene synthesis screening. NIST’s AI Safety Institute is developing the capability to evaluate AI models for chemical and biological (chem-bio) threats. The Economic Development Administration (EDA) also supports ecosystems for biosecurity-related industries through the Tech Hubs program, which promotes regional biotech innovation clusters.

Background on Commerce

Source: USASpending
  • Government context: Commerce is one of 15 executive departments in the US government; the Secretary is a member of the US President’s Cabinet
  • Mission: Commerce promotes sustainable economic growth and good standards of living for Americans; increasingly, Commerce is involved in matters of national security and technology regulation
  • Main activities: data collection, export regulation and enforcement, technological standard-setting, intellectual property registration, and research grant-making
  • Budget: ~$131 billion annually, 1.1% of federal budget in 2023; in 2022, the new but temporary CHIPS initiative received  $50 billion over the next 5 years, significantly boosting the total budget size for the department, but at levels that will likely not be sustained in the medium term (FY21 funding levels were $27 billion)
  • Staff: ~47,000 (on the smaller size relative to other federal departments)
  • Brief history: created in 1903 and reorganized in 1913 (after the Department of Labor was split off); history marked by continuous reshuffling of responsibilities and the addition of new mandates (e.g. given the National Weather Service from USDA in 1940, lost the Office of Energy Programs to the DOE in 1977, created the International Trade Administration in 1980)
  • Dep. of Commerce Agency Performance Dashboard, Partnership for Public Service

Organizational structure

Source: DOC.

Commerce is led by a Secretary of Commerce, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Other senior leadership positions are also politically appointed, such as the Deputy Secretary, Chief of Staff, Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and heads of the offices that directly report to the Secretary or Deputy Secretary. The six biggest Commerce bureaus are led by the Under Secretaries (see organizational chart).

The six Commerce bureaus operate fairly independently, given their very different missions. While the Secretary’s office is located in DC, some bureaus are headquartered in different cities. For example, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, though some offices within NIST, including the AI Safety Institute and the CHIPS Program Office, are still located in DC.

Commerce and AI policy

Commerce engages in various activities that affect the development and impact of AI. It is currently overseeing export controls on semiconductor technology (in the Bureau of Industry and Security, BIS), financially incentivizing domestic semiconductor manufacturing (through the CHIPS Office), and supporting standard-setting for AI (through the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST). President Biden’s October 2023 Executive Order on AI tasked Commerce with “developing guidelines, standards, and best practices for AI safety and security.” In November 2023, Commerce established the AI Safety Institute (see member list) within NIST to support these responsibilities  (CSET compiled a database that includes Commerce’s Executive Order responsibilities).

While offices and agencies within Commerce are not often involved in spearheading regulation themselves, they can inform regulation and broader policy.

AI-related developments at Commerce

Commerce has been among the most active departments on AI in recent years. Relevant developments include:

  • October 2025: The International Trade Administration (ITA), housed within Commerce, launches the American AI Exports Program to promote industry-led, full-stack AI technology packages (hardware, software, and models) to foreign buyers.
  • August 2025: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announces that NIST will assume responsibility for $7.4 billion in semiconductor research funding previously managed by the non-profit Natcast. 
  • August 2025: The Trump administration converts Intel’s CHIPS Act grants (administered by the CHIPS Program Office within Commerce) into an $8.9 billion investment, giving the US government a nearly 10% equity stake in the company.
  • July 2025: President Trump’s Executive Order on exporting AI technology stacks directs Commerce to solicit proposals from the private sector for “priority AI export packages,” which will then be eligible for coordinated federal funding and support through diplomatic and economic channels.
  • June 2025: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announces plans to reform the AI Safety Institute (US AISI) into the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI).
  • January 2025: BIS releases two rules: one that updates export controls on advanced computing semiconductors, and another that places additional entities in China and Singapore on the Entity List.
  • January 2025: Biden’s Executive Order on AI Infrastructure directs Commerce (through NIST and CAISI, then known as the US AI Safety Institute) to develop security guidelines for frontier AI training/operations and evaluate security implications of significant public AI models, establish technical standards for cyber, supply chain, and physical security of AI facilities.
  • December 2024: Commerce releases The Decisive Decade: Advancing National Security at the Department of Commerce, providing a framework for the Department to bolster national resilience, defend against immediate threats, and prevent future threats from materializing. Strategic focuses include critical and emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and critical supply chains.
  • November 2024: Commerce and the Department of State launch the International Network of AI Safety Institutes at the inaugural convening in San Francisco. The convening aimed to address three high-priority topics that would benefit from international coordination: (1) managing risks from synthetic content, (2) testing foundation models, and (3) conducting risk assessments for advanced AI systems.
  • October 2024: NIST announced a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Energy to collaborate safety research, testing, and evaluation of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models and systems. 
  • May 2024: NIST launched ARIA, a new program to advance sociotechnical testing and evaluation for AI. The results will support the US AI Safety Institute’s testing to help build the foundation for trustworthy AI systems.
  • May 2024: Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo Releases Strategic Vision on AI Safety, Announces Plan for Global Cooperation Among AI Safety Institutes
  • April 2024: Commerce announced several measures to implement the Executive Order on AI, including draft guidance and plans for international standards on AI safety, security, and trustworthiness.
  • February 2024: Commerce establishes the US AISI Consortium, a group of leading AI labs and companies, state and local governments, nonprofits, academia partners, and other organizations. The consortium was tasked to contribute to President Biden’s Executive Order on AI, including “developing guidelines for red-teaming, capability evaluations, risk management, safety and security, and watermarking synthetic content.”
  • October 2023:  The Biden administration’s Executive Order on AI, among other things, tasked Commerce with new responsibilities in AI policy, including a requirement for NIST to develop guidelines for AI developing and auditing AI, collect red-teaming, security, and other information about large-scale AI training runs and computing clusters, and for NTIA to produce reports on open source models and synthetic content.
  • June 2023: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) put out a request for comment signaling interest in AI policy. The comments are intended to inform the administration’s regulatory approach to AI.
  • June 2023: NIST launched a new working group on AI risk.
  • March 2023: NIST launched the Trustworthy & Responsible Artificial Intelligence Resource Center (AIRC) to work with industry and operationalize its AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF), which provides guidance to those who build or use AI. 
  • October 2022: The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) implemented export controls on advanced computing and semiconductor products to China. These were updated in October 2023.
  • September 2022: Commerce set up the Industrial Advisory Committee to make recommendations on a national microelectronics R&D strategy funded through the CHIPS Act.
  • July 2022: Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act, creating the CHIPS Office within NIST and granting it $50 billion to invest in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and R&D incentives for private industry.1
  • September 2021: Commerce established the National AI Advisory Committee to advise the President on AI policy. Its membership hails from industry, academia, non-profits, and federal labs, and the committee is administratively supported by NIST.

Commerce offices working on AI policy

Commerce has several offices contributing to AI-relevant efforts (non-exhaustive):

AI-related offices in Commerce

  1. Office of the Secretary (OS): provides general Department management and leadership; Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has expressed personal interest in AI policy.
  2. Office of the Deputy Secretary: charged with the Department’s administration, typically thought of as the “COO”; works closely with the OS; will sometimes lead on special projects not otherwise handled by OS; current priorities include place-based economic development, which may include some CHIPS-related decisions.
  3. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS): handles export controls and data collection authorities (under the DPA and IEEPA), including notable export controls on chip technology to China (org chart).
    • Office of the Under Secretary: oversees all of BIS, reports to the Secretary of Commerce. Houses a small team considering how BIS should control emerging technologies such as AI.
    • Export Administration: designs export control policy, including drafting and publishing changes to the Export Administration Regulations, administering post-license processes, and providing compliance and management guidance to exporters.
      • Office of National Security Controls (ONSC): writes export control rules and adjudicates licenses for national security items, including the recently controlled semiconductor items. ONSC is the Export Administration office working most directly on AI.
      • Office of Technology Evaluation (OTE): evaluates the effectiveness of export controls, conducts detailed technical analyses of controlled items, analyzes trade and export licensing data, and assesses the capabilities of the US defense industrial base, among other roles.
      • International Policy Office (IPO): educates international partners on US export controls and works with partner nations to help them implement similar controls.
      • Office of Exporter Services (OExS): helps organizations understand export control regulations and develop effective compliance programs, which is critical since private sector organizations (companies, universities, etc.) are on the front lines of export control implementation. This is especially important for the latest semiconductor controls given their complexity and will likely be similarly essential for controls on AI and other emerging technologies.
    • Office of Export Enforcement: investigates export and antiboycott violations; interdicts illegal exports; conducts end-use checks; helps companies to improve export compliance practices.
      • Office of Enforcement Analysis (OEA): uses all-source intelligence (both classified and unclassified) to conduct research that supports BIS’s various missions. These analyses are critical for “adjudicating export control licenses, preventing the diversion of export-controlled items, identifying potential violators, and facilitating law enforcement actions.”
    • Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services (OICTS): works on issues like “infrastructure as a service” (IaaS) for AI, critical information technology supply chains, cybersecurity, and data protection.
  4. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): sets voluntary standards instead of binding regulations; many businesses voluntarily choose to apply NIST standards as it helps them improve their processes (org chart).
  5. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA): advises on telecommunications and information policy; tasked with writing major reports through the executive order including on auditing and open source (org chart).
  6. US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): registers intellectual property (org chart, p. 8).
  7. International Trade Administration (ITA): promotes international trade and investments (org chart).
    • Supply Chain Center (SCC): aiming to increase the resilience of select critical supply chains, including semiconductors.

Commerce and biosecurity policy

Commerce helps protect against biological threats while simultaneously fostering the growth of legitimate biological research, including by:

  • Regulating export controls for dual-use goods and technologies: through BIS, Commerce sets and enforces export policy, manages the Commerce Control List, and ensures compliance under multilateral agreements like the Australia Group.
  • Advancing standards in biological measurement: through NIST, Commerce contributes to biotech advancements via standard setting in the life sciences.
  • Promoting US economic development in the sciences: through EDA and ITA, Commerce supports the growth of US biotech companies and facilitates international trade partnerships.
  • Economic recovery during a pandemic: throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Commerce distributed $1.5 billion and provided technical assistance to aid the US economic recovery.
  • Supporting biosurveillance capabilities: through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce contributes to monitoring biological threats in marine environments and tracking disease-carrying species.

2022 National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan

In 2022, the White House published the government-wide National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan, which provides a helpful overview of the role of departments and agencies in US biosecurity planning. The plan assigns Commerce as co-lead on one sub-goal, to enhance screening and reporting of suspicious biotech research and synthesis orders with private sector collaboration. Otherwise, Commerce is assigned supporting roles. 

Commerce responsibilities from the 2022 National Biodefense Strategy

  1. GOAL 1 (p. 18): Enable risk awareness and detection to inform decision-making across the biodefense enterprise
    • 1.1.1. Detection and Reporting of Biological Threats (Support)
    • 1.1.2. Biological Threat Sequencing and Analytical Data Sharing (Support)
    • 1.1.3. Data Integration for Early Warning (Support)
    • 1.1.4. Biological Threat Assessment and Characterization Capabilities (Support)
  1. GOAL 2 (p. 22): Ensure biodefense enterprise capabilities to prevent bio incidents 
    • 2.2.1. Promote Safe and Secure Biological Laboratories and Practices (Support)
    • 2.2.2. Strengthen Responsible Conduct for Biological Research (Lead)
  1. GOAL 3 (p. 26): Ensure biodefense enterprise preparedness to reduce the impacts of bioincidents
    • 3.2.3. Rapid, Low Cost, Point-of-Need Tests (Support)
  2. GOAL 4 (p. 33): Rapidly respond to limit the impacts of bioincidents
    • 4.1.1. Effective Response to Mitigate Biological Incidents (Support)
  1. GOAL 5 (p. 35): Facilitate recovery to restore the community, the economy, and the environment after a bioincident
    • 5.1.1. Recovery Planning and Implementation (Support)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Commerce contributed to economic recovery and public health initiatives. Through the 2020 CARES Act, Commerce distributed $1.5 billion and provided technical assistance to aid economic recovery. NIST leveraged its expertise in measurement science to enhance diagnostic testing, improve personal protective equipment, and develop data analysis tools. The Bureau of Economic Analysis also provided economic data measuring the pandemic’s impact on households and small businesses. 

Major recent biosecurity-related developments at Commerce

  • December 2024: Commerce is tasked with helping coordinate agency implementation of the Biosafety and Biosecurity Innovation Initiative Plan, a framework “to reduce biorisks associated with advances in biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and the bioeconomy.”
  • October 2024: NIST’s AI Safety Institute (US AISI) releases a Request for Information (RFI) on safety considerations for responsible development and use of chem-bio AI models.
  • April 2024: NIST establishes a cooperative research agreement with the nonprofit Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) and begins a series of workshops to develop standards and best practices related to nucleic acid synthesis and screening, fulfilling one of its responsibilities under the Biden Administration’s Executive Order on AI.
  • March 2024: ITA Deputy Under Secretary leads the US delegation to the second annual meeting of America’s RISE for Health Initiative, which aims to increase trade for improved health outcomes.
  • February 2024: NIST partners with a nonprofit research consortium to develop safety tools for synthetic biology to defend against potential misuse of AI, fulfilling one of its responsibilities under the Biden Administration’s Executive Order on AI.
  • October 2023: The Biden administration’s Executive Order on AI, among other things, tasks Commerce with new biosecurity-related responsibilities, including mandating that companies developing dual-use AI models using biological sequence data report their activities, security measures, and red-team testing results, with specific thresholds based on computing power.
  • July 2023: BIS partners with HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to conduct an assessment of the US influenza vaccine industrial base, to understand its supply chain, address deficiencies, and improve monitoring and industry performance.
  • January 2023: NIST publishes an advancement its researchers co-developed for a DNA biosensor for low-cost clinical diagnostics.
  • September 2022: EDA awards $44 million from the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge to the BioFabrication Cluster for biomedical manufacturing. 
  • December 2021: BIS imposes new restrictions on entities in China, Georgia, Malaysia, and Turkey to deter misuse of biotechnology.
  • October 2021: BIS expands controls on exports of software capable of contributing to biological weapons proliferation.
  • June 2021: NIST co-hosts a workshop with DHS on setting standards to support an enduring capability in wastewater surveillance for public health.

Commerce offices working on biosecurity policy

Commerce has several offices contributing to biosecurity-relevant efforts (non-exhaustive):

Biosecurity-related offices in Commerce

  1. Office of the Secretary (OS): provides general Department management and leadership.
    • Office of Policy and Strategic Planning (OPSP): advises the Secretary on the Department’s strategic direction.
  2. Office of the Deputy Secretary: charged with the Department’s administration, typically thought of as the “COO”; works closely with OS; will sometimes lead on special projects not otherwise handled by OS.
  3. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS): regulates export controls and ensures compliance with national security and foreign policy measures related to dual-use goods and technologies (org chart).
    • Office of the Under Secretary: oversees all of BIS, reports to the Secretary of Commerce.
    • Export Administration: designs export control policy, including drafting and publishing changes to the Export Administration Regulations, administering post-license processes, and providing compliance and management guidance to exporters.
      • Office of Nonproliferation and Foreign Policy Controls (NFPC): serves to prevent the proliferation of WMD and the means to deliver them. NFPC administers the US participation in multilateral export control regimes, including the Australia Group.
        • Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Controls Division (CBC): “receives and adjudicates applications to export, reexport or transfer (in-country) items that could make a material contribution to the design, development, production or stockpiling of chemical or biological weapons.”
      • Office of National Security Controls (ONSC): “manages national security (NS) export controls, enforcing multilateral measures under the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, and overseeing US encryption export policies.”
      • Office of Technology Evaluation (OTE): “analyzes trade data, the impact of export controls on US interests, and the capabilities of the US industrial base to support the national defense.”
      • International Policy Office (IPO): educates international partners on US export controls and works with partner nations to help them implement similar controls. 
      • Office of Exporter Services (OExS): helps private sector organizations (companies, universities, etc.) understand export control regulations and develop effective compliance programs, since these organizations are on the front lines of export control implementation.
    • Office of Export Enforcement: investigates export and antiboycott violations; interdicts illegal exports; conducts end-use checks; helps companies to improve export compliance practices.
      • Office of Enforcement Analysis (OEA): uses all-source intelligence (both classified and unclassified) to conduct research supporting BIS’s various missions. These analyses are critical for “adjudicating export control licenses, preventing the diversion of export-controlled items, identifying potential violators, and facilitating law enforcement actions.”
  4. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): sets voluntary standards instead of binding regulations; many businesses voluntarily choose to apply NIST standards as it helps them improve their processes (org chart). See NIST’s health & bioscience page.
    • Office of the Director: oversees all of NIST, reports to the Secretary of Commerce.
    • Special Programs Office (SPO): liaises with other parts of the government and private industry on standards; works on high-profile projects.
    • Material Measurement Laboratory (MML): “conducts measurement science across the chemical, biological and material sciences.”
      • Biosystems and Biomaterials Division (BBD): “fosters innovation and builds confidence in quantitative biology and biomaterial measurements across government and industry in support of the bio-economy.”
      • Biomolecular Measurement Division (BMD): “provides the measurement science, standards, technology, and data required to support the nation’s needs in determining the composition, structure, quantity, and function of biomolecules.”
    • Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML): sets the definitive US standard for “nearly every kind of measurement in modern life.”
    • Engineering Laboratory (EL): advances measurement science, standards, and technology for engineered systems.
      • Building Energy & Environment Division: has an Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation Group, which “develops computer simulation programs and measurement procedures and applies them to better understand the phenomena of air and contaminant transport in buildings.”
    • Office of Safety, Health, and Environment (OSHE): operates NIST’s Biosafety Program, providing “biological research authorization, practices, procedures, equipment, facility, and training requirements…for research activities performed by NIST employees and associates.”
  5. Economic Development Administration (EDA): focuses on US strategic economic development, including leading much of the work under the 2021 American Rescue Plan. Operates through six regional offices across the country. While biotechnology is not an explicit focus area of EDA, much of its funding and programs are geared toward science-based entrepreneurship.
  6. International Trade Administration (ITA): promotes international trade and investments, including providing pharmaceutical market research (org chart).
    • Supply Chain Center (SCC): aims to increase the resilience of select critical supply chains part of the Industry and Analysis (I&A) unit. 

Working at Commerce

Commerce hires from a wide range of backgrounds, given its bureaus’ many different functions. The most AI-focused bureaus and offices heavily recruit lawyers, policy and national security professionals, and technologists.

If you’re looking for early-career opportunities at Commerce like internships and fellowships, visit Commerce’s internships page and check out the Federal Internship Finder and the USAJOBS Federal Internship Portal (filtering for “Department of Commerce”). Many offices also participate in the Pathways Program.

To find open full-time positions at Commerce, visit USAJOBS filtering for “Department of Commerce”, and check out its Careers page, which may include postings not listed on USAJOBS. You can also follow Commerce on LinkedIn to stay updated about their activities and new job postings.2

If you want to apply, check out our federal agency application advice section for guides to USAJOBS, federal resumes, interviewing for federal positions, and more.

Further reading

Footnotes
  1. To put this into perspective, NIST’s total annual budget in prior years hovered around $1.5 billion, making this legislation a multi-fold increase in the bureau’s budget. In practice, the CHIPS Office is therefore its own well-funded entity (but with a staff of only 150) and has a direct line to the Secretary. ↩︎
  2. Commerce also recruits for its US and Foreign Commercial Service (CS), typically every two years. Applicants interested in the CS sit competitive examinations to serve as diplomats in embassies and consulates abroad to promote trade. ↩︎

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