The head of The US government’s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) is leaving the unit this month to take a job with a quantum computer business, Wired learned.
Rick Muller’s departure from Iarpa is coming amid broader efforts to reduce the US intelligence community, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which oversees IARPA. A person familiar with Muller’s plans confirmed that he had wired his departure from Iarpa.
Iarpa, born during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, is the task of testing AI, quantum computer science and other emerging technologies that can help the missions of spying agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency.
The Trump administration allegedly cut the workforce of intelligence agencies as part of the president’s broad attempts to dissolve diversity programs and simplify government operations. Influential Republicans in the US Senate also recently proposed legislation that would cut several programs of the ODNI, although Iarpa is not under listed targets.
Muller, a chemist and longtime computer scientist researcher, oversaw some quantum computer programs at the Department of Energy before taking the reins of Iarpa in April 2024. His last day at Iarpa will be July 11, according to the person familiar with his plans. He joins Ionq, which is part of a race to commercialize quantum computer science. Ionq refused to comment.
The technologies used by spying agencies are often shrouded in secrecy. But a lot of Iarpa’s work is public. This has funded dozens of research projects at universities and other laboratories across the country, including attempts to improve facial and speech recognition systems. In April, Muller told Federal News Network that cyber security risks of major language models would be a priority for upcoming research.
The Trump administration fired workers and cut off the government’s grants for research at various other agencies, provoking nationwide protests and jeopardizing the future of science. The ODNI is looking for a budget of about $ 82 billion for the coming year, an increase of about 11.5 percent compared to the amount asked for 2025. But Tulsi Gabbard, the director of National Intelligence, cut her workforce by 25 percent this year.
Last week, Senator Tom Cotton, who chaired the Senate Committee for Intelligence Chairman, described the Agency of Gabbard as a ‘too much and bureaucratic Behemoth’ on which ‘coordinators coordinated with other coordinators.’ He called on cuts and other changes he characterized as “essential to keeping our country safe from the wide range of threats we face.”
Cotton spokesmen did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Senator’s view of Iarpa. The White House also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
IARPA has been modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which has long been considered one of the most advanced research and development units of the federal government with successful betting technologies, location tracking and language translation.