The Person in Charge of Testing Tech for US Spies Has Resigned

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 computing company, WIRED has learned.

Rick Muller’s pending departure from IARPA comes amid broader efforts to downsize the United States intelligence community, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which oversees IARPA. A person familiar with Muller’s plans confirmed to WIRED his departure from IARPA.

Born during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, IARPA is tasked with testing AI, quantum computing, and other emerging technologies that could aid the missions of spy agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency.

The Trump administration reportedly has been moving to cut the workforces of intelligence agencies as part of the president’s broad efforts to dismantle diversity programs and streamline government operations. Influential Republicans in the US Senate also recently have proposed legislation that would cut several programs from the ODNI, though IARPA isn’t among listed targets.

Muller, a chemist and long-time computer science researcher, had overseen some quantum computing programs at the Department of Energy before taking the reins of IARPA in April 2024. His final day at IARPA will be July 11, according to the person familiar with his plans. He is joining IonQ, which is part of a race to commercialize quantum computing. IonQ declined to comment.

The technologies used by spy agencies are often shrouded in secrecy. But much of IARPA’s work is public. It has funded dozens of research projects at universities and other labs across the country, including efforts to improve systems for face and speech recognition. In April, Muller told Federal News Network that the cybersecurity risks of large language models would be a priority for upcoming research.

The Trump administration has fired workers and slashed government grants for research at several other agencies, sparking nationwide protests and jeopardizing the future of science. The ODNI is seeking a budget of about $82 billion for the coming year, an increase of about 11.5 percent over the amount requested for 2025. But Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has touted cutting her workforce by 25 percent this year.

Last week, Senator Tom Cotton, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, described Gabbard’s agency as an “overstaffed and bureaucratic behemoth” at which “coordinators coordinate with other coordinators.” He called for cuts and other changes that he characterized as “vital to keeping our country safe from the wide range of threats that we continue to face.”

Spokespeople for Cotton didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the senator’s views on IARPA. The White House also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

IARPA was modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, which has long been considered one of the federal government’s most advanced research and development units with successful bets on technologies for vaccines, location tracking, and language translation.