Massive shooting of national standard and technical braces

The Trump administration and the so-called ruling to lay off Ministry of Government Efficiency This week may begin this week at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the institution is responsible for establishing benchmarks to ensure that from Beauty products arrive Quantum computer Safe and reliable.

According to current and former NIST employees, the agency has been preparing for cuts since Donald Trump took office last month and ordered billionaires Elon Musk and Dock ( Doge) Cuts spending across the federal government. Last week, some NIST workers witnessed concerns among a few who they believe are related to the Doge inside the building 225, the agency’s NIST Information Technology Laboratory on the Maryland campus. One of the people said the Governor’s staff were seeking access to NIST’s IT systems.

Shortly after the alleged visit, NIST leaders told employees that Doge employees are not currently on campus, but provide them with office space and technology.

Wednesday, axis and Bloomberg According to reports, NIST has begun notifying some employees that they will be fired soon. The report said about 500 recent employees who are still in the trial state can let go more easily. The cuts could affect technologists in leadership positions, including three lab directors promoted last year, three sources told Wired. An official layoff notice could appear on Friday, a person familiar with the agency told Wired.

A spokesperson for the White House and part of the U.S. Department of Commerce NIST has not returned a request for comment.

The AISI Institute (AISI), a NIST team that has been worried about cuts due to its number of trial employees, was founded after former President Joe Biden’s Clear executive orders on AI Released in October 2023. Trump abolition Shortly after taking office last month, the order described it as a “barrier to American artificial intelligence leadership.”

The AI ​​Security Institute and its approximately twenty employees have been working closely with AI companies, including competitors, partners, like Musk’s Openai and Anthropic to understand and test their most powerful models. Musk, an early investor in OpenAI, is currently suing the startup for its decision to transition from nonprofits to for-profit companies.

Elizabeth Kelly, the inaugural director of AISI, Announce She left her role earlier this month. Several other high-profile NIST leaders, including AI, have also left in recent weeks, including Reva Schwartz, who leads NIST to assess the risks and impact of AI programs, and NIST’s chief AI consultant Elham Tabassi. Kelly and Schwartz declined to comment. Tabassi did not respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance recently said the new government’s intention to deprive AI of security at the AI ​​Action Summit was an international conference held in Paris last week, with AISI and other government staff being No invitation According to three people familiar with the matter, they participated. “I wasn’t here this morning talking about AI security,” Vance said in his first major speech as vice president. “I’m talking about AI opportunities here.”