Director of Trump's AI safety center resigns after three months

Center names NIST director Arvind Raman as acting replacement

Chris Fall, the director of the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, resigned Monday after three months in the role, the center announced.

The agency named Arvind Raman, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, as acting director. Raman will also be involved in the search for a permanent director, the center said.

The Center for AI Standards and Innovation falls under the purview of the Commerce Department.

Fall was appointed director in April. He served at the Department of Energy during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

Fall’s resignation comes as the Trump administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill wrestle with how to regulate the growing artificial intelligence industry.

In December, Trump signed an executive order restricting states from enacting regulations on AI.

Last month, the Commerce Department temporarily placed an export ban on AI company Anthropic after the company refused to allow the Pentagon to use its AI system without any restraints. Trump also banned the use of Anthropic’s technology by the Defense Department, but a judge ruled the ban was unlawful, calling it “retaliation.”