The tech industry is throwing its weight behind science and tech work in government in response to the roller coaster of federal employee firings and rehirings and the specter of more job and budget cuts.

Why it matters: Chaos at federal agencies is taking a toll on universities and could impact the private sector — the government's key partners in pushing forward AI and other new technologies.

Driving the news: Tech industry and advocacy groups sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick today warning that agency cuts could hobble America's global leadership in AI.

• The letter notes that President Trump was responsible for starting AI work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) during his first term.

What they're saying: Groups in the letter, shared exclusively with Axios, pointed to NIST's work developing standards, fostering public-private collaboration and harmonizing international norms.

• "We caution that downsizing NIST or eliminating these initiatives will have ramifications for the ability of the American AI industry to continue to lead globally," the groups wrote.
• "A reshaped approach — one that aligns NIST's world-leading expertise in standards and R&D with security and economic imperatives — will ensure that America continues to lead in AI and other emerging technologies."

State of play: The Software and Information Industry Association, TechNet, Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) and ITIF's Center for Data Innovation were among the signatories.

• The pressure is piling on as ARI sent a separate letter last week to Lutnick and White House AI czar David Sacks expressing support for NIST, the National AI Research Resource and the AI Safety Institute.

Catch up quick: 73 probationary staff at NIST were fired last week — and it's not the only science and tech agency whose employees and funding are on the chopping block.

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) terminated 170 employees at the agency last month. Many were experts in AI and computer science.
• About half were reinstated last week after a federal judge told the Office of Personnel Management to rescind its directive to agencies to fire probationary employees.

But agencies are due to submit plans to the White House by the end of this week outlining employee layoffs and positions that could be eliminated.

• At the same time, the NSF, which spends most of its budget funding research at universities and other institutions and was already hit with a budget cut last year, could reportedly see its funding further slashed.

The other side: The Trump administration has said its cutbacks — many made by Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" unit — are aimed at waste and inefficiency and are necessary for tackling the nation's debt.

Between the lines: The cuts affect scientific research across the board and aren't unique to computer science. But that field is at the forefront of the geopolitical competition to dominate the development of artificial intelligence and other technologies.

• The U.S. is home to top tier industry labs that conduct a lot of in-house computer science research, but they're generally looking for short-term impact.
• NSF, by contrast, funds early-stage, high-risk research or studies in areas industry doesn't have incentive to support but later applies.

Case in point: In the 1990s, NSF funded research on reinforcement learning — the AI approach that powers today's chatbots.

• "If you become very short-sighted and are saying industry can do short-term research, ignoring the long-term impact, at some point you will lose. That is precisely where we will head if we cut the funding," one computer science professor at a U.S. university told Axios.

Research dollars matter not just for their payoff in results but for the support they provide to the key asset in any scientific "race": talent.

• "The pipeline that gets young talent into big tech and startups is in many cases coming from NSF funding grants. It's enabling a whole host of computing talent to eventually staff American tech companies," a current NSF employee said.
• STEM and AI talent is already scarce in the U.S., and the cuts risk exacerbating the problem, they added.

Just days after its announcement, a new AI agent named Manus is winning expert acclaim while stoking concern over another AI advance rooted in Chinese research and development.

Driving the news: Manus AI, named after the Latin word for hand, is billed as "a general AI agent that turns your thoughts into actions."

• In a video posted late last week, Manus' creator describes it more than "just another chatbot or workflow. ... It's a completely autonomous agent."
• "We see it as the next paradigm of human-machine collaboration and potentially a glimpse into AGI," Manus AI chief scientist Yichao "Peak" Ji says in the video.

Ji's demo shows Manus handling three separate tasks, sorting through resumes, identifying correlations in various stocks and searching through New York real estate — rating nearby schools and assessing how much the user can realistically afford.

• Manus does its work in the cloud, he says, which allows users to shut their laptop while the AI is working — but also raises concerns about data security and privacy.

Why it matters: As with DeepSeek, the advent of Manus is alarming some U.S. observers who worry that China is catching up in what is often cast as a race for AI supremacy.

Yes, but: For now, Manus is in invitation-only private testing.

What they're saying: Manus has sparked a flurry of online discussion, with enthusiasm for its capabilities, critiques of its limitations, and warnings about its implications for privacy and security.

• "It looks like Manus AI presents itself as a Chinese company (with its team based in China) while maintaining a legal entity in Singapore," AI and privacy expert Luiza Jarovsky writes in a newsletter.
• "From a data protection perspective, the key questions are: Where are its servers located? Is there any corporate affiliation to China? Are there data transfers to China?"

The other side: Skeptics are already questioning whether Manus can live up to the claims being made for it.

• Some early testers, like TechCrunch's Kyle Wiggers, found its performance on various tasks disappointing.

The big picture: Agents with various levels of autonomy have been widely seen as the next big thing in AI and were already an industry buzzword long before Manus' arrival.

A TV set-top box for seniors is adding fresh features that help caregivers whose loved ones are dealing with dementia.

Why it matters: Technology, while often a barrier for older people, can also be used to help bridge distance.

Driving the news: JubileeTV, as the San Francisco-based startup is known, is adding an even more simplified experience to allow those with memory issues to better control the TV.

• A new six-button remote lets them turn on the TV, adjust volume and switch among various favorite channels.
• Caregivers and family members, meanwhile, are able to change channels, drop in for a video chat, send messages, and monitor TV usage and other physical activity.
• In the new feature update, JubileeTV is also adding AI-powered live captions for video chats.

Read more

• Apple is delaying its previously announced AI overhaul of Siri, casting further doubt on its ability to compete with OpenAI, Google and others. (Axios)
• Enthusiasm over AI continues to spur record levels of venture investment, per new Pitchbook data. (Financial Times)
• Beijing is adding AI to the curriculum for primary and secondary school students. (Bloomberg)

Some DVDs manufactured between 2006 and 2008 are experiencing disc rot — rendering them unplayable — but Warner Brothers says it will replace them.