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The government’s DOGE team, led by Elon Musk, has started using artificial intelligence to make decisions on cutting government spending and staff, CNN reports. According to experts, this could lead to massive security breaches, discriminatory dismissals, and the loss of qualified professionals in critical structures.
Musk has stated that he aims to reduce the US federal budget deficit by at least a trillion dollars. As part of this initiative, the DOGE team is already using AI to analyse data from government departments, assess the feasibility of programmes, and even prepare dismissal lists for employees.
However, AI experts warn that such approaches can have dangerous consequences. Such systems can show bias, create risks of data leakage, and make decisions that harm vulnerable groups. Studies show that AI can favour certain social or ethnic groups, which can lead to discrimination, in particular when analysing the work of civil servants.
In addition, CNN reports that DOGE integrates its own AI tools into various government agencies. For example, the GSAi chatbot is supposed to analyse contractual and procurement data and help with cost optimisation decisions.
However, former employees of the government agency USDS resigned en masse, stating that they refused to participate in the “destruction of key government services and violation of the privacy of Americans’ data”.
At the same time, Musk is using this process to promote his startup xAI as one of the leaders in the artificial intelligence industry. However, it is still unknown whether the company’s developments are used in government projects.
Experts warn that the large-scale introduction of AI in public administration without proper verification, control, and risk management can lead to chaos. They emphasise that the lack of transparency in DOGE’s work raises serious questions, as it does not disclose which AI systems are being used, whether their results are checked by people, and how data is protected.
According to the researchers, if the government loses public trust in the protection of personal data, it can seriously affect the stability of public services, from filing tax returns to receiving social assistance.
The Trump administration has a difficult task ahead of it: to prove that AI in the public sector is safe, effective and fair, and to ensure that the cuts do not become a threat to the functioning of key government systems.
