US AI Safety Center Staff Asked to Report to White House

What happened

The Associated Press account cites two former government officials who spoke anonymously to protect current staff. The two said staff at CAISSI were recently asked to report informally to a White House office; the AP does not name the office, and the White House did not answer the AP's specific questions about the center.

CAISSI, the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence, is an independent division of the Commerce Department, housed in the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and tests frontier models for safety before deployment. It began as the AI Safety Institute set up by the Biden administration in November 2023, was later renamed the US Center for AI Standards and Innovation, and was renamed again recently.

In a statement, the White House said Trump had formally established his Super Intelligence Force and commissioned a risk report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and that it will ensure continued US leadership on super intelligence. The statement did not answer the AP's specific questions about CAISSI. Critics said assessments in areas such as cybersecurity and bioweapons could be politicized or softened.

Key facts

1. Report and sources: published by the Associated Press on Nov 8, based on two former government officials who spoke anonymously
2. Core of the report: CAISSI staff were recently asked to report informally to a White House office; the AP does not name the office
3. Nature of the change: the arrangement is an informal reporting line, not an announced formal restructuring
4. Where it sits: CAISSI is an independent division of the Commerce Department, housed in the National Institute of Standards and Technology
5. Name history: it began as the Biden-era AI Safety Institute set up in November 2023, was later renamed the US Center for AI Standards and Innovation, and was renamed CAISSI recently
6. Leadership gap: a director hired in April was fired within days; his successor Chris Fall resigned in July 2026; NIST Director Arvind Raman has served as acting director since
7. Budget: $10 million a year, about one-eighth of its British counterpart's
8. Reports halted: since August, Congress has asked why the center stopped publishing model safety assessments
9. Earlier move: on Oct 12, The Information reported three senior officials would move to the White House to report to Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios and National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross; Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had invited the two to co-manage the center about six months earlier
10. Responses and context: the White House did not answer the AP's specific questions; critics at the Brennan Center for Justice and the Federation of American Scientists warned findings could be politicized; on Oct 16 the center jointly published incident-response guidance with the NSA and CISA