A federal AI consortium reemerges with a new name, scope and call for members

Source Domain: fedscoop.com

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s AI Safety Consortium will now be called the NIST Artificial Intelligence Consortium, the agency said Friday, continuing a shift in approach to the technology under President Donald Trump. According to NIST’s announcement, the renamed group will retain some of its previous work but will change its scope. The group is also seeking new member organizations to carry out its aims. Craig Burkhardt, deputy NIST director, said in a statement included in the release. “To encourage more extraordinary AI technological innovations, NIST is seeking to expand its AI measurement efforts by harnessing the broader community’s interests and capabilities.” The decision comes about a year after the Trump administration changed the name of NIST’s AI Safety Institute, pivoting away from “safety.” That organization, which was originally established under the Biden administration, is now called the Center for AI Standards and Innovation. It’s also the first news about the consortium in some time. The consortium was established in 2024 alongside the AI Safety Institute as a venue for input from companies, universities, and other organizations on measurement standards for AI safety.

NIST is in the headlines once more this week, but not for reasons it’s going to be excited about. Department of Commerce inspector general report released Thursday found that the National Institute of Standards and Technology has mismanaged a critical cybersecurity vulnerability database through poor planning, inefficient operations, duplicate federal programs, and failure to communicate with users. The National Vulnerability Database, maintained by NIST since 2005, collects information about computer security flaws and adds details like severity ratings and affected products. This information helps cybersecurity professionals across government and the private sector decide which security problems to fix first. In…

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