National AI safety group and CHIPS for America at risk with latest Trump administration firings

The Trump administration’s slash-and-burn approach to the federal workforce is intersecting with its interests in artificial intelligence, according to reports on a new round of firings.

Several media outlets are reporting that hundreds of employees of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will lose their jobs. Axios, citing anonymous sources “familiar with the matter,” reported that the Gaithersburg, Maryland-headquartered agency plans to fire or lay off almost 500 people who were hired in the past couple of years and so were still under what’s called “probationary” status. 

The layoffs reportedly include many of the staffers behind the US AI Safety Institute (AISI), which NIST created in 2023 to further the AI safety and security goals in then-President Joe Biden’s AI executive order. 

The termination headcount also reportedly includes much of the staff working on the agency’s CHIPS for America initiative, an offshoot from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act that used a $50 billion allocation to promote and incentivize domestic semiconductor development. The 497 employees Axios reported NIST will cut include two-thirds of CHIPS staffers working on research and development, and more than half (57%) of workers focused on incentives for semiconductor infrastructure. 

Anonymous sources told Bloomberg News some employees already received verbal notices about the cuts. The outlet also reported that some of these sources said decisions have yet to be made. 

Before he won the election, President Trump criticized the CHIPS and Science Act on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast. “The chips deal is so bad,” he said, mischaracterizing how tariffs work to suggest the US should not back domestic production of semiconductors but instead encourage foreign manufacturing. After his inauguration, he put out his own AI-focused executive order and announced the Stargate initiative to develop AI infrastructure alongside private industry partners OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank.

This move also comes after AISI’s first-ever director Elizabeth Kelly departed in early February, according to Reuters. Wired also noted that other AI-focused NIST staffers have departed, and that no AISI workers were invited to join the Trump administration at the recent AI Action Summit in Paris.

NIST’s mission is to promote economic competitiveness and security through research, scientific standards development related advisory work. Per this mandate, the lab established a multisector consortium within AISI to help develop and execute guidance on responsible artificial intelligence use. 

The AI safety group had been continuing its work despite Trump’s executive order, according to CTO Andrew Gamino-Cheong of consortium member Trustible, who said that at the time, Trump’s AI policies actually weren’t that much different than his predecessor’s.

“There’s some continuity there, but this is a lot of window dressing in order to try and send a message,” Gamino-Cheong told Technical.ly in January. 

Now things may have changed, with the potential elimination of federal personnel focused specifically on the safe and ethical use of artificial intelligence. Gamino-Cheong said that at present, the recurring invite to consortium meetings is still on his calendar, and he has not yet heard anything from NIST to suggest the consortium’s elimination.

“We still support AISI’s mission and think that voluntary testing and evaluation standards are non-partisan and necessary to help build public trust in AI systems,” he said. “If the US doesn’t lead on this front, then others will take the lead, which could hurt AI growth in the US.”

NIST is a part of the federal Department of Commerce, whose recently confirmed secretary Howard Lutnick is facing Democratic politicians’ demands for clarity on the alleged layoffs.

NIST spokespeople and others associated with the consortium did not immediately return a request for confirmation on the alleged cuts.