The Trump administration is issuing a “clarion call” to Silicon Valley, launching a massive government-wide recruiting initiative designed to inject top-tier artificial intelligence expertise directly into the federal workforce.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced the creation of the “Tech Force” on Monday, a program aimed at securing American technological dominance by modernizing government infrastructure and accelerating the adoption of AI across federal agencies.
“If you want to help your country lead in the age of AI, we need you,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a statement.
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The initiative seeks to recruit a cohort of 1,000 early-career candidates—including engineers, data scientists, and technologists—for a two-year program. According to the OPM, these recruits will work on “mission-critical” projects, receiving training from private-sector partners with the potential to transition into permanent roles in either the government or the private sector once their term ends.
To facilitate the program, the Tech Force is partnering with roughly 25 industry heavyweights. The roster includes Amazon Web Services, Adobe, Dell Technologies, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, Palantir, and xAI. OPM officials noted that they plan to expand this list over time.
U.S. Federal CIO Gregory Barbaccia described the program as a “call to service” for the nation’s best technologists. The goal is to deploy a corps of experts capable of ensuring U.S. competitiveness and driving innovation in fields ranging from education to medicine.
Beyond immediate modernization, the program aims to address a looming personnel crisis. Kupor told reporters the initiative is designed to replenish the federal workforce as a wave of retirements approaches over the next decade.
“Our goal here is not to ask people to commit to a 40-year career in the federal government,” Kupor said, explaining that the administration wants to demonstrate that the public sector offers opportunities to tackle complex, high-stakes technical problems.
Applications opened Monday at TechForce.gov, with officials aiming to finalize hiring by the first quarter of 2026.
The launch is a key component of President Donald Trump’s broader AI strategy, first outlined in July’s AI Action Plan. The administration has moved aggressively to centralize AI policy, recently signing an executive order to establish federal rules that would supersede state-level regulations.
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That centralization has sparked friction with some state leaders, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, who recently argued that an “executive order doesn’t/can’t preempt state legislative action.”
The push for technological dominance also extends to trade. The administration recently approved a deal allowing U.S. chipmaker Nvidia to export advanced AI chips, such as the H200, to China, with the U.S. government taking a cut of the profits. While Nvidia argues this helps establish American tech as the global standard, critics have warned the move risks undermining long-term national security.
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