The swept layoffs built by the Trump administration and so-called government efficiency may come soon at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) this week. Quantum computers are safe and reliable.
According to several current and former NIST employees, the agency has been cutting since President Donald Trump took office last month and ordered billionaires Elon Musk and Doge to cut spending across the federal government. It is controlled. Last week, some NIST workers witnessed a handful of people who believed they were linked to Doge, which houses the NIST Information Technology Laboratory in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on campus. At that moment, my fear grew. . Doge staff wanted access to Nist's IT systems, one of the people said.
Shortly after the alleged visit, NIST leadership told employees that Doge staff are not currently on campus, but office space and technology are being provided for them.
On Wednesday, Axios and Bloomberg reported that NIST began notifying some employees that they could be fired immediately. Reports show that among those still on probation and expected to be affected, there are around 500 recent employers who can be more easily let go. Three sources have told Wired that the cuts are likely to be praised by technical experts with leadership positions, including three Labori-Lecter who were promoted during the last year. One person familiar with the agency tells Wired that an official layoff notification could come on Friday.
A spokesman for NIST, part of the White House and the Department of Commerce, has not yet returned a request for comment.
One of the NIST teams fearing cuts due to the number of probation employees is the US AI Safety Study, created after the executive order of former AI President Joe Biden, issued in October 2023. This is AISI. Last month, he described it as “a barrier to American leadership in artificial intelligence.”
The AI Safety Institute and its approximately 20 staff work closely with AI companies, including rivals from Musk startup Xai, like Openai and humanity, to understand and test the capabilities of the most powerful models. Musk is an early investor in Openai and is currently suing startups over the decision to move from a nonprofit to a for-profit company.
Aisi's first manager, Elizabeth Kelly, announced earlier this month that he would be leaving his role. Several other well-known NIST leaders working on AI also have recently seen the following weeks, including Reva Schwartz, who led the assessment of the risks and impact of NIST's AI programs, and Elham Tabassi, Chief AI Advisor at Nist We left. Kelly and Schwartz declined to comment. Tabassi did not respond to requests for comment.
US Vice President JD Vance recently demonstrated the new administration's intention to strip AI from safety with the AI Action Summit. The AI Action Summit was a major international conference held in Paris last week, and no AISI or other government officials have been invited to attend. “I'm not here this morning to talk about AI safety,” Vance said in his first major speech as VP. “I'm here to talk about AI opportunities.”
