President Donald Trump has mandated the renaming of the U.S. AI Safety Institute, eliminating “safety” from its title. The AISI, which partnered with private tech firms to evaluate AI safety challenges, will henceforth be known as the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI).

As reported by Axios on May 29, the newly formed CAISI will retain much of its former responsibilities, with an added focus on global collaboration.

Established in 2023 by President Joe Biden, AISI was part of the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. Its original objective was to assess risks associated with systems like ChatGPT and Claude. Following Trump’s return to office, and with the involvement of Elon Musk’s “DOGE” team, there were anticipations that the institute could be disbanded.

In February, AISI was excluded from the Paris AI Summit organized by Trump’s administration. By March, researchers were directed to prioritize audits that reduced “ideological bias” in the technologies they scrutinized.

The specific function of CAISI remains unclear. Axios indicates that the previous AISI’s responsibilities will largely continue unchanged, but given its new designation and statements from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the emphasis appears to be moving towards expediting progress rather than exercising caution.

“For far too long, censorship and regulations have been imposed under the pretense of national security,” Lutnick stated. “Innovators will no longer be constrained by these parameters. CAISI will assess and promote U.S. innovation in these swiftly evolving commercial AI systems while ensuring they comply with our national security standards.”