The Nationwide Institute of Requirements and Expertise may fireplace as many as 500 staffers, in accordance with a number of experiences — cuts that additional threaten a fledgling AI security group.
Axios reported this week that the US AI Security Institute (AISI) and Chips for America, each a part of NIST, can be “gutted” by layoffs concentrating on probationary staff (who’re sometimes of their first yr or two on the job). And Bloomberg mentioned a few of these staff had already been given verbal discover of upcoming terminations.
Even earlier than the newest layoff experiences, AISI’s future was trying unsure. The institute, which is meant to check dangers and develop requirements round AI growth, was created final yr as a part of then-President Joe Biden’s govt 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 President Donald Trump repealed that order on his first day again in workplace, and AISI’s director departed earlier in February.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 a lot of AI security and coverage organizations who all criticized the reported layoffs.
“These cuts, if confirmed, would severely influence the federal government’s capability to analysis and handle vital AI security considerations at a time when such experience is extra very important than ever,” mentioned Jason Inexperienced-Lowe, govt director of the Heart for AI Coverage.
