Bloomberg reports that the Trump administration has fired some National Science Foundation (NSF) employees who were hand-picked for their expertise in the field of artificial intelligence, threatening the agency's ability to maintain critical artificial intelligence research.
One of the affected departments within the National Science Foundation (NSF) is called the Directorate for Technology Innovation and Partnerships, which plays an important role in channeling government funding focused on artificial intelligence. According to Bloomberg, due to layoffs, the work of many review panels has been delayed or canceled, and funding sources for some artificial intelligence projects have also stalled.
Artificial intelligence experts have criticized the Trump administration's recent cuts to science funding, particularly cuts championed by billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. In a post on X, artificial intelligence pioneer and Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton called for Musk to be expelled from the Royal Society "because he has caused huge damage to American scientific research institutions."
Musk responded to Hinton's post, saying, "I make mistakes, but I work hard to correct them."