Radical layoffs designed by the Trump administration and the so -called government efficiency department can arrive as soon as this week at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a non -regulatory agency responsible for establishing reference points that guarantee everything from Beauty products Quantum computers are safe and reliable.
According to several current and previous employees of NIST, the agency has prepared for cuts since President Donald Trump took office last month and ordered billionaire Elon Musk and Doge to collect spending throughout the federal government. The fears increased last week when some NIST workers witnessed a handful of people who were associated with Dege Inside Building 225, which houses the NIST information technology laboratory on the Gaithersburg campus, Maryland of the agency, according to several people informed about sightings. The Lege staff sought access to Nist’s IT systems, one of the people said.
Shortly after the supposed visit, Nist’s leadership told employees that Doge employees were not currently on the campus, but that the office space and technology were being provided for them, according to the same people.
On Wednesday, Axios and Bloomberg He informed that Nist had begun to inform some employees that they could soon be fired. According to reports, around 500 recent hiring that are still in a state of trial and can be released more easily, they are expected to be affected. Three sources tell britcommerce that the cuts probably impact the praising the technical experts in leadership positions, including three laboratory directors who were promoted in the last year. A person familiar with the agency tells britcommerce that official dismissal notices can arrive on Friday.
The White House and a NIST spokesman, which is part of the Department of Commerce, has not yet returned the requests for comments.
A NIST team that has feared cuts due to its number of employees on probation is the US Institute of Security of 2023. Trump. Trump Trump terminated The order shortly after assuming the position last month, describing it as a “barrier to American leadership in artificial intelligence.”
The Safety Institute and its approximately two dozen employees have been working closely with AI companies, including the rivals of the Musk Startup XAI as Openai and Anthrope, to understand and test the capabilities of their most powerful models. Musk was one of the first investors in Openai and is currently demanding from the startup for his decision to move from a non -profit organization to a profit corporation.
Inaugural Director of Aisi, Elizabeth Kelly, announced He was leaving his role earlier this month. Several other high -profile NIST leaders who work in AI have also departed in recent weeks, including Schwartz Reva, who directed the evaluation of the risks and impacts of the AI program, and Elham Tabassi, main advisor of NIST. Kelly and Schwartz declined to comment. Tabassi did not respond to a request for comments.
The US Vice President, JD Vance, recently said the intention of the new administration of shaving the security of AI at the AI Action Summit, an important international meeting held in Paris last week that Aisi and other employees of the employees of the Government were uninvited Attend, according to three familiar with the matter. “I’m not here this morning to talk about the safety of AI,” Vance said in his first important speech as vice president. “I’m here to talk about AI’s opportunity.”