Grounded Reasoning and Artificial Intelligence for National Security (GRAINS) Workshop
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) led the Grounded Reasoning and Artificial Intelligence for National Security (GRAINS) Workshop, on Sep. 15–17, 2026, in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The workshop brought together experts from industry, academia, federally funded research laboratories and the U.S. Government to explore how rapidly evolving formal methods can be applied to modern AI-enabled systems. Discussions focused on strengthening the security and resilience of U.S. critical infrastructure and national security domains.
The workshop aimed to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, inspire forward-looking dialogue and catalyze actionable solutions addressing emerging challenges and opportunities at the intersection of AI and formal methods.
A report on the findings from the GRAINS Workshop will be forth coming in the next few weeks.
Workshop Objectives
The GRAINS Workshop is designed to:
- Promote collaboration across technical and policy communities
- Identify practical applications of formal methods in AI systems
- Highlight national security implications of emerging technologies
- Develop actionable strategies for advancing the field
Key Topics
Topics focused on advancing practical applications of formal methods, including:
- Usable and scalable formal methods
- Integration of formal methods with AI workflows
- Applications in critical infrastructure and national security
Guiding Questions
Workshop discussions centered on four key questions:
- Who do you trust?
- Who is your adversary?
- What are viable AI-OT Frameworks?
- How do architectures handle AI failures?
The GRAINS Workshop Committee Members
- Gregory Shannon, Idaho National Laboratory
- Jennifer Butler, Idaho National Laboratory
- Chris Harrison, Sandia National Laboratory
- Rob Armstrong, Sandia National Laboratory
- Doug Ghormley, Sandia National Laboratory
- Max Taylor, Boise State University
