Trump Administration Plans to Embed CAISI AI Testing Agency Officials in the White House

The Trump administration is planning to move officials from CAISI, the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, into the White House, according to a report by The Information. The move is aimed at integrating the federal government's AI testing agency more directly into the administration's AI decision-making process.

CAISI is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce and is tasked with facilitating testing and collaborative research around commercial AI systems. The planned relocation comes amid an ongoing internal debate within the administration over which agencies should lead AI oversight, with some officials favoring routing AI testing through the National Security Agency and others arguing CAISI is the only body properly staffed for the work. Moving CAISI officials into the White House would represent a significant structural shift, giving the testing function a more central role in shaping policy rather than operating at arm's length within the Commerce Department.

The news arrives against a backdrop of turbulence at CAISI: the agency's director, Chris Fall, resigned after just three months on the job, and the agency had previously been told by the White House to pull back from public communications and interagency meetings. Arvind Raman, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has been serving as acting CAISI director.