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Elon Musk's DOGE using AI to snoop on federal agencies: Report
The use of AI, according to Reuters, has been brought into force to identify employees who might be hostile towards Donald Trump and his mission.
The team of technologists in Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is using artificial intelligence to surveil at least one federal agency to fish out any hostility towards US President Donald Trump and his agenda, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Even though Musk's DOGE remains cloaked in secrecy for majority of its operations, such an AI-driven surveillance marks an outstanding use of technology to identify disloyalty in the workforce under Trump's governance.
One other person, also directly familiar with the matter, said that DOGE is also using Signal app to communicate. This means that they are potentially violating federal record-keeping rules as messages can be set to disappear after a particular period of time.
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Additionally, the DOGE team has also "heavily" deployed the Grok AI chatbot, which is X's rival product against OpenAI's ChatGPT. They are using Grok as part of their work in cutting down the federal government, the person was cited by Reuters said. It is however not clear as to how this chatbot is being used.
Concerns over data security practices
Using AI and Signal continues to rake up concerns among cyber security experts and government ethics critics that DOGE is functioning with limited transparency. They are also worried that Musk or the Trump administration might use the gathered information to further their own interests or take a hit at political targets.
Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis, noted that if DOGE is using Signal without backing up every single message to federal files, "then they are acting unlawfully".
AI to monitor workers, communications
Trump appointees reportedly told managers at the Environmental Protection Agency that Elon Musk's team was rolling out AI to monitor workers and seek out any language in communications that might be hostile towards Trump or Musk, Reuters said, citing the two people.
EPA has been Trump's fire since his administration took over the White House. Nearly 600 employees have been put on leave, with Trump's office saying that 65 per cent of EPA's budget will be eliminated.
Two sources familiar with the matter also said that AI was being to monitor Microsoft Teams as well, a platform widely used by agencies and offices for virtual calls and chats. "We have been told they are looking for anti-Trump or anti-Musk language," a third source said as per Reuters.
HT.com could not independently verify whether AI was being implemented in agencies by Musk's DOGE.
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The first two sources also mentioned how Trump officials said that DOGE will be looking for people who work does not align with the administration's mission. "Be careful what you say, what you type, what you do," a manager was cited as saying.
Reuters, however, clarified that EPA also issued a statement in this regard. It said that the agency was "looking at AI to better optimise agency functions and administrative efficiencies" but said it was not using AI "as it makes personnel decisions in concert with DOGE". It did not directly address reports of AI being used to surveil workers.
Notably, Musk had before Trump's election last year, suggested that AI could be used to replace government workers.
