The Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships within the NSF, which played a key role in directing government grants for AI, has been impacted by the layoffs. As a result, many review panels have been delayed or canceled, hindering funding for AI projects, according to Bloomberg.
AI experts have criticized the Trump administration’s recent reductions in scientific grant funding, particularly cuts advocated by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Geoffrey Hinton, an AI pioneer and Nobel Laureate, took to X to call for Musk's expulsion from the British Royal Society, citing the significant harm he believes Musk is causing to scientific institutions in the U.S.