Trump Administration Cuts may Threaten and Derail AI Research Efforts
Experts warn that the Trump administration's cuts in bid to push for fiscal management and responsibility could derail steady research efforts in artificial intelligence.
The Trump Administration has been on a streak recently, igniting cuts across different departments, including layoffs affecting a number of National Science Foundation (NSF) employees who had been handpicked for their expertise in AI. According to some experts, the move threatens the agency’s ability to sustain key AI research, Bloomberg reported.
One such department inside NSF, called the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, played a significant role in funneling government grants focused on AI. Bloomberg further reports that many review panels have been postponed or canceled as a result of the layoffs, stalling funding for some AI projects.
AI experts have spoken up, criticizing the Trump Administration’s recent cuts to scientific grant-making, and in particular, reductions championed by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Geoffrey Hinton, an AI pioneer and Nobel Laureate, called for Musk to be expelled from the British Royal Society “because of the huge damage he is doing to scientific institutions in the U.S.”
Musk responded to the comments on X, saying, "Only craven, insecure fools care about awards and memberships. History is the actual judge, always and forever. Your comments above are carelessly ignorant, cruel and false. That said, what specific actions require correction? I will make mistakes, but endeavor to fix them…"
