Around 25,000 people have expressed interest in joining the “Tech Force,” a cadre of engineers to be hired by the Trump administration as it looks to install staff with artificial intelligence expertise in federal roles.
The Trump administration will use that list to recruit software and data engineers, in addition to other tech roles, said Scott Kupor, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in a post on X. The 25,000 figure has been provided by a senior Trump administration official, according to a Reuters report.
The program was announced by the Office of Personnel Management, and aims to recruit approximately 1,000 engineers, data scientists, and AI specialists to work on what officials describe as critical technology projects across the government. Participants, called “fellows,” will tackle assignments including AI implementation, application development, and data modernization.
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“The interested candidates will compete for 1,000 spots in the first Tech Force cohort. The recruits will spend two years working on technology projects inside federal agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and Justice, among other government offices,” Kupor said previously.
Tech Force members will commit to a two-year employment program working with teams that report directly to agency leaders in “collaboration with leading technology companies,” according to an official government website. The private sector partners include Amazon Web Services, Apple, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir, Oracle, Salesforce, and numerous others.
Once the two-year program is over, they can seek full-time jobs with those companies, who have committed to consider the programs’ alumni for employment. The private partners can also nominate their employees to do stints of government service.
This initiative was announced four days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at blocking state AI regulations, and creating a single national law. It showcases the Trump administration’s increasing efforts to ensure American dominance in the AI race.
Annual salaries will likely fall in the range of $150,000 to $200,000, plus benefits, according to CNBC.
Applications opened on Monday through federal hiring channels, with OPM conducting initial résumé screenings and technical assessments before agencies make final hiring decisions. Kupor said his goal is to have the first cohort onboarded by the end of March 2026.
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There has been some criticism regarding the timing and structure of the initiative. Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that advocates for federal workers, told Axios, “They are establishing a new program that seems to significantly overlap with the previous initiatives undertaken by USDS before this administration disbanded it.”
Rob Shriver, former acting OPM director and current managing director at Democracy Forward, told Nextgov his first concern was “What are the rules that are in place to guard against conflicts of interest?” When asked about private sector employees working on government projects while maintaining their company stock holdings.