With the change, the Trump administration has also backed away from a signature effort to stay ahead of China in the A.I. race. The U.S. government had been concerned that the Chinese military could use A.I. chips to coordinate attacks and develop weapons and had also wanted to preserve the U.S. lead in developing A.I. systems.

Other agencies are moving forward with RIFs and terminations, but official tells federal court some plans have changed.

The Department of Education began sending notices to employees that it plans to resume shrinking the department after the Supreme Court said on Monday that President Donald Trump could carry out mass layoffs.