NIST: Workshop on Architecture, Training, and Supply Chain Security for AI Data Centers, July 22-23

What is NIST announcing for July 22 and 23?

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) together with the Department of War’s High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) is organizing a virtual workshop titled “Securing AI Data Center - Architecture, Security Posture, and Emerging Standards.” The event takes place on July 22 and 23, 2026, via Zoom, from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM EDT on both days, and is directly tied to America’s AI Action Plan, the current government strategy for AI infrastructure.

What topics does the AI data center security workshop cover?

The program covers a wide range of topics related to the AI data center as a whole: hardware and software architecture, the security of model training and inference, supply chain security, and regulatory compliance. This combination of topics covers the entire lifecycle of AI infrastructure — from physical components and suppliers, through model training and serving processes, to regulatory compliance — making it broader than typical workshops focused on just one segment, such as network security alone or hardware alone.

Goal: input for future NIST standards

According to the announcement, the workshop’s purpose is not to publish finished standards, but to gather input from government, industry, and academia that will help NIST develop future standards for secure AI infrastructure. In this way, the workshop follows NIST’s broader pattern of work, in which public discussions precede formal guidelines. For organizations building or maintaining AI data centers, participating is an opportunity to influence early on the standards that will later shape compliance requirements across the industry.