What happens when layoffs to people who create standards for our technology?

From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech. I'm Stephanie Hughes.

It's Friday, so let's review some of the big stories of the week, shall we?

Another lawsuit has hit Doge from privacy right advocates concerned about Americans' personal data.

And another wearable bites the dust. The AI pin is no more.

But first, layoffs in the federal government are continuing, including reportedly at the

National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, which is part of the Commerce Department.

This is a federal laboratory that's been around since 1901. Its mission is to promote U.S.

innovation and competition, and part of its work is to help create standards for new technology,

like artificial intelligence. Maria Curie is a tech policy reporter at Axios. She recently

reported that the agency is expected to fire about 500 workers. I asked her to explain more about

what their employer, NIST, does. Here within the United States, it tells companies,

hey, this is how you should be deploying this technology to make sure it's trustworthy and safe,

but it also does it on an international basis. And that's important because if the U.S.

isn't setting the standards that could open up the possibility of other countries stepping in,

like an adversary.

Yeah. And so what could these job cuts mean for Furnists' work that they do?

So about 500 people are being targeted right now. And that would include more than half of the AI Safety Institute because more than half are probationary employees. It would also

impact the Chips for America offices, the ones focused on research and development, and the ones

focused on actually giving out these grants to bring chip manufacturing back to the U.S.

This matters because as the U.S. races to develop this technology,

there has to be some sort of government agency involved, making sure that, you know, the United

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