The looming layoffs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) could reportedly impact up to 500 staffers in the AISI or Chips for America, amping up longtime suspicions the AISI could eventually see its doors shuttered under Trump’s leadership.
Since taking office last month, Trump has sought to switch the White House tone on AI development, prioritizing innovation and maintaining U.S. leadership in the space.
Some technology experts say the potential cuts undermine this goal and could impede America’s competitiveness in the space.
“It feels almost like a Trojan horse," said Jason Corso, a robotics, electrical engineering and computer science professor at the University of Michigan.
"Like the exterior of the horse is beautiful, it’s big and this message that we want the United States to be the leaders in AI, but the actual actions, the [goal] within, is the dismantling of federal responsibility and federal funding to support that mission,” he continued.
The AISI was created under the Commerce Department in 2023 in response to former President Biden’s executive order on AI. The order, which Trump rescinded on his first day in office, created new safety standards for AI among other things.
The institute is responsible for developing the testing, evaluations and guidelines for what it calls “trustworthy” AI.
AISI and Chips for America — both housed under NIST — could be “gutted” by layoffs aimed at probationary employees, Axios reported last week.
Some of these employees received verbal notices about upcoming terminations last week, though a final decision on the scope of the cuts had not yet been made, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.
The push comes as Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) panel, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, takes a sledgehammer to the federal government and calls for the layoffs of thousands of federal employees to cut down on spending.
Check out the full report at TheHill.com tomorrow morning.
