Radical layoffs architects by the Trump administration and the so-called Government Department of Effectiveness can happen this week at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a non -regulatory agency responsible for establishing benchmarks that guarantee everything beauty products has Quantum computers are safe and reliable.
According to several current and former employees of NIST, the agency is preparing for cuts since President Donald Trump took office last month and ordered billionaire Elon Musk and Doge to reduce spending across the federal government. The fears were reinforced last week when some NIST workers saw a handful of people they believed associated with DOGE inside building 225, which houses the NIST information technology laboratory at the Gaithersburg of the ‘Agency, Maryland, campus, according to several people informed of the agency’s observations. DOGE staff were looking for access to IT systems in NIST, said one of the people.
Shortly after the alleged visit, Nist’s management told employees that Doge’s staff were not currently on campus, but that the office space and technology were provisional for them, according to the same people.
Wednesday, Axios And Bloomberg reported that Nist had started to inform certain employees that they could soon be laid off. According to reports, around 500 recent hires which are still in probation status and can be released among people who should be affected. Three sources indicate to Wired that cuts probably have an impact on technical experts in management positions, including three laboratory directors who have been promoted in the past year. A person familiar with the agency told Wired that official dismissal notices could arrive on Friday.
The White House and a spokesperson for Nist, who is part of the Ministry of Commerce, has not yet returned any comments.
An NIST team that feared discounts due to its number of probationary employees is the US AI Security Institute (AISI), which was created after the former president Joe Biden Executive scanning command on the AI Posted in October 2023. Trump canceled Order shortly after taking office last month, describing it as an “obstacle to American leadership in artificial intelligence”.
The AI Safety Institute and approximately two dozen staff members worked closely with AI companies, including rivals from the Musk startup, such as Openai and Anthropic, to understand and test the abilities of Their most powerful models. Musk was a first investor in Openai and is currently continuing the startup for his decision to go from a non -profit organization to a for -profit company.
The inaugural director of AISI, Elizabeth Kelly, announcement She left her role earlier this month. Several other high -level NISS leaders working on AI have also left in recent weeks, notably Reva Schwartz, who has led the NIST risk assessment and evaluation impacts, and Elham Tabassi, advisor Head of Nist AI. Kelly and Schwartz refused to comment. Tabassi did not respond to a request for comments.
US vice-president JD Vance recently pointed out the new administration to pray to AI’s security at the AI summit, a large international meeting held last week that AISI and other government employees were not guest To attend, according to three families with the question. “I’m not here this morning to talk about AI security,” said Vance during his first major speech as vice-president. “I am here to talk about the opportunity of AI.”