Elon Musk's xAI signed an agreement to work with the U.S. AI Safety Institute as his DOGE efforts have taken aim at the office's future, Ashley and Maria report.

Why it matters: Musk's business dealings run deep with government contracts, investigations and partnerships, raising a flurry of conflict of interest concerns.

• AISI had been bracing for Musk's DOGE cuts, as we previously reported, and seemed especially vulnerable given it's made up mostly of probationary employees.
• But the office has so far been spared, thanks to congressional pushback, general support for it among the tech industry, and staff there having technical expertise.

Driving the news: Ben Buchanan, an AI adviser under the Biden administration, said on The Ezra Klein Show on today that AISI has a memorandum of understanding with Musk's xAI, the company behind Grok.

• AISI has MOUs with various AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI that are designed to establish voluntary research, testing and evaluation collaboration.
• The MOU with xAI was negotiated and signed under the Biden administration, sources familiar told Axios. It's not clear whether AISI was involved in xAI's latest release, Grok 3, which came out last month.
• xAI and NIST did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The big picture: AISI is one of the many government entities in the middle of dealing with tech billionaire Musk.

• Some industry watchers and former government officials told Axios that xAI being partnered with AISI is a good sign for the entity's fate under the Trump administration.

What we're watching: Unlike partnerships with other AI companies, the deal with xAI was never publicly announced.

• It's unclear whether xAI has offered the Grok system to the government for testing, as other companies have, or if xAI being involved with AISI will shift its safety efforts in another direction given Musk and the Trump administration's desire to hit the gas on AI development.
• In announcing Anthropic's latest release, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, the company mentioned pre-deployment testing of the model with AISI and the U.K. AI Security Institute as part of its partnerships with those two agencies.

Here's a quick guide to what we'll be listening for tonight when President Trump addresses Congress, Ashley and Maria write.

The big picture: Trump isn't known for getting into the weeds on policy. But given this administration's desire to accelerate AI development and punish Big Tech for perceived censorship, any mentions could indicate where tech policy is going.

AI: The biggest tech policy topic in Washington continues to be artificial intelligence.

• Trump could reiterate Vice President Vance's recent remarks that the U.S. is going to prioritize rapid innovation over safety, a departure from the Biden administration's approach.
• Trump's second term has kicked off with support from most major AI companies, including adviser Elon Musk's own xAI.

Tariffs and tech: Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China will reverberate throughout the tech world, and we expect that he'll defend them tonight despite the reality that higher costs will be passed onto consumers.

• Tech is anxious about the tariffs as they will affect everything from smartphones to car components to medical devices. Companies like Apple that do tons of their manufacturing in China will see a direct impact from the tariffs.
• Trump's U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is up for review in 2026, will be center stage as trade partners use the deal to fight these tariffs and the ones that have been threatened in retaliation for digital taxes.

Big Tech complaints: The FTC already kicked off a proceeding around alleged Big Tech censorship, and the FCC has signaled it'll be targeting media they view as unfair to Trump, too.

• Though most major social media companies have relaxed their content moderation efforts and Musk is in charge of X, the idea that social media silences conservative speech hasn't gone away.
• Trump may also discuss wanting to gut Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, an idea that gained a lot of steam during his last term but ultimately didn't happen.

TikTok: On the day of his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order delaying a ban on TikTok until early April so the company can find a new owner.

• National security concerns over TikTok's ties to China were widely shared in Congress and in Trump's first term, but he did a 180 on the issue after his supporters pushed back.
• The president could address what's next for the widely popular app tonight.

Kids and social media: Lawmakers for years have tried to protect kids online, but legislation is actually poised to cross the finish line now that Melania Trump has thrown her weight behind the TAKE IT DOWN Act.

• The first lady will bring a victim of revenge porn to the joint session, 15-year-old Elliston Berry from Texas.
• This is another area where Big Tech, and the proliferation of AI, may come under fire as bill backers blame companies in addition to the people creating and posting the harmful imagery.

Staff across NIST were fired yesterday, Maria has confirmed.

Why it matters: NIST employees work on AI safety, deploying the CHIPS and Science Act, cybersecurity programs, and more.

Driving the news: The agency had been bracing for layoffs, as we first reported. This week 73 probationary staff were let go, according to sources familiar.

• Of the 73 employees, 42 were in the CHIPS offices. No technical staff were included.
• Some CHIPS employees were kept, as money is still being actively doled out to companies.
• Bloomberg first reported the cuts.

What we're watching: DOGE is taking a wrecking ball to the federal government. But some employees who have been let go have then been told to come back as Elon Musk's team realizes critical work is being impacted.

• However, science and tech government employees may not be keen to return to public service, since they can find lots of demand for their expertise in the private sector.