Representatives Russell Fry and Suhas Subramanyam have launched the Innovators Caucus, a bipartisan congressional group. The initiative aims to support small and medium-sized artificial intelligence companies in the United States.
The caucus focuses on structural challenges for smaller firms, including limited access to capital, difficulties in securing seed funding, and intense competition for technical talent. It also addresses the complexities of the current R&D tax credit system.
Previously, on March 17, 2026, Subramanyam and Representative Jay Obernolte introduced the Small AI Innovators Empowerment Act. This bill proposes that the Department of Commerce, NIST, and the SBA conduct a study on barriers facing small AI businesses.
The proposed study intends to analyze capital access, tax incentive effectiveness, and the impact of regulatory uncertainty. The initiative also highlights concerns regarding Section 174 of the tax code, which requires the amortization of research expenses over five years.
