The world leading Australian research team that developed the extremely hard to hack seL4 microkernel has been disbanded by the CSIRO, with staff to be moved to AI projects or sacked in a restructure of Data61.Work will continue on the project through an independent seL4 Foundation established last year but those involved say it will be difficult to attract funding and world leading talent will be lost. The changes are part of restructuring of Data61, the CSIRO’s digital arm, that will see 70 positions lost. The Agency said different positions are being created in line with CSIROs new strategy built around AI, but it will take two years for headcount to return to current levels.