The National Institute of Standards and Technology may fireplace as many as 500 staffers, in line with a number of reviews — cuts that additional threaten a fledgling AI security group.
Axios reported this week that the US AI Safety Institute (AISI) and Chips for America, each a part of NIST, can be “gutted” by layoffs focusing on probationary workers (who’re sometimes of their first yr or two on the job). And Bloomberg mentioned a few of these workers had already been given verbal discover of upcoming terminations.
Even earlier than the most recent layoff reviews, AISI’s future was trying unsure. The institute, which is meant to review dangers and develop requirements round AI improvement, was created final yr as a part of then-President Joe Biden’s government order on AI security. President Donald Trump repealed that order on his first day again in workplace, and AISI’s director departed earlier in February.
Fortune spoke to quite a lot of AI security and coverage organizations who all criticized the reported layoffs.
“These cuts, if confirmed, would severely impression the federal government’s capability to analysis and deal with crucial AI security issues at a time when such experience is extra important than ever,” mentioned Jason Green-Lowe, government director of the Center for AI Policy.
