The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may lay off up to 500 employees, according to multiple reports — cuts that further threaten the newly established Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute (AISI).
AISI and the "Chips for America" program, both part of NIST, are expected to face significant layoffs, primarily targeting probationary employees. Bloomberg reported that some of these employees have already received verbal notices of impending job cuts.
Even before these latest reports, AISI’s future was uncertain. The institute, which was created last year under then-President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI safety, was designed to study the risks associated with AI development and establish standards. However, when President Donald Trump returned to office, he repealed the executive order, and AISI’s director resigned in February.
Fortune spoke with several AI safety and policy organizations, all of which criticized the reported layoffs.
“These cuts, if confirmed, would severely limit the government’s ability to research and address critical AI safety issues at a time when such expertise is more urgently needed than ever,” said Jason Green-Lowe, executive director of the Center for AI Policy.
