NSF cancels over 400 grants covering disinformation, deepfakes and STEM education

Around 430 federally-funded research grants covering topics like deepfake detection, artificial intelligence advancement and the empowerment of marginalized groups in scientific fields were among several projects terminated in recent days following a major realignment in research priorities at the National Science Foundation.

Other cancelled grants included nearly two dozen projects devoted to disinformation research, election security, cyber-physical systems protection and the CyberCorps scholarship program, according to a spreadsheet obtained by Nextgov/FCW.

In total, around $328 million worth of grants, many of them issued to major American universities, were canceled. The mass cancellation and realignment of NSF’s grant priorities coincided with the arrival of officials from the Department of Government Efficiency, who have been present at the agency since April 14, according to six people familiar with the matter. 

Read more at Nextgov/FCW