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.

President Donald Trump's administration has told a federal judge that it cannot be ordered to disclose federal agencies' reorganization and mass layoff plans as part of a lawsuit seeking to block them from being implemented.