Administration Considers Moving Three CAISSI Officials to White House Lines

The administration is considering moving three senior officials from the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence into White House reporting lines, potentially changing how a key U.S. AI testing center is overseen.

The plan would create reporting lines involving Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios and Office of the National Cyber Director official Sean Cairncross. The administration has also considered transferring the entire center, but the final arrangement remains unsettled.

CAISSI operates within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the Commerce Department. It has about 40 employees and approximately $15 million in annual funding.

The center leads voluntary testing, evaluations and standards work for advanced artificial intelligence systems. Its responsibilities include unclassified evaluations of systems that may pose cybersecurity, biosecurity or chemical-weapons risks.

CAISSI collaborates with government and industry on AI assessments and participates in international efforts to shape technical standards. Its role in evaluating advanced models was previously covered in Microsoft’s government testing of frontier AI models.

A White House reporting line could give the center a larger role in national-security and pre-deployment AI decisions. The practical effects would depend in part on whether Commerce retains administrative control and whether the plan covers three officials or the full center.

White House spokesperson Liz Huston said, “President Trump is ensuring America leads the world in Super Intelligence. At the President’s request, the White House is bringing government and industry leaders together to accelerate innovation, ensure the safe and responsible deployment of new models, and protect the American people.”

The center’s current NIST name is the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence, or CAISSI. The name Center for AI Standards and Innovation, or CAISI, also appears for the same center. The final reporting structure, effective date and division of authority among Commerce, NIST and the White House have not been confirmed.