AI Policy Newsletter - February 28, 2025

• Reports this week indicate that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts could target up to 500 staffers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), including the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute (AISI) and staff working to implement the CHIPS and Science Act. The reports have gotten a mixed reaction from Republicans on the Hill, where Todd Young (R-IN), a leader of Chuck Schumer’s bipartisan working group on AI, underscored the importance of NIST without directly criticizing the potential cuts. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX), on the other hand, said he was not worried and expects that all government agencies will see cuts. While the future of the AISI has remained uncertain since the beginning of Trump’s term, this latest move would constitute a ”gutting” of the Institute, if it occurred, according to Axios.

  
  

• On February 25, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to consider the nominations of Michael Kratsios to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Mark Meador to serve as FTC Commissioner. During the hearing, Kratsios testified that “the shape of future global order will be defined by whomever leads across AI, quantum, nuclear, and other critical and emerging technologies,” stressing the urgency of ensuring the U.S. does not cede leadership in these realms to China. Kratsios’ comments echo the Trump administration’s early focus on loosening regulations to spur innovation and combatting threats from China. A summary of the hearing can be found here.

  
  

• On February 21, President Trump issued an Executive Order on an “America First Investment Policy,” establishing a federal policy of preserving an “open environment to help ensure that artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies of the future are built, created, and grown right here in the United States.” The order also includes a provision about restricting foreign adversaries’ access to U.S. talent and operations in the AI realm.

  
  

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