DOGE Mask Promotes Grok in US Federal Government

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is expanding the federal government's use of xAI's Grok artificial intelligence for data analysis, potentially violating conflict of interest laws and putting the confidential information of millions of Americans at risk, Reuters reported, citing three anonymous sources.

One person familiar with DOGE’s activities says Musk’s team is using a special version of the Grok chatbot to more efficiently review data, generate reports, and get answers to questions. Two other people say DOGE members have told U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials to also use Grok.

If DOGE uses Grok to analyze data that is classified government information, it could violate security and privacy laws. It could also give Elon Musk access to valuable non-public federal contract data from agencies he works with, including through SpaceX, or the ability to use that data to train Grok.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesman denied any claims that its employees used Grok.

"DOGE hasn’t pushed any employees to use any particular tools or products. DOGE is here to find and fight waste, fraud and abuse," the spokesperson said.

Technology and government ethics experts say it could also give Musk an unfair competitive advantage over other AI makers like OpenAI and Anthropic. If government employees use Grok to analyze data, the government would have to pay Musk’s xAI for access to the chatbot.

The data Musk’s team works with is typically not available to all but a select few officials because of the risk of sale, loss, leakage, privacy breaches or other security threats. Sharing such data within the federal government requires agency approval and government experts to ensure compliance with privacy and other laws.

If Musk, the world’s richest person, was involved in promoting Grok to the federal government, it could violate criminal conflict of interest laws, which prohibit officials, including special government employees, from engaging in activities that could financially benefit them. If DOGE employees acted without Musk’s knowledge, it would pose an ethical issue but not violate conflict of interest laws.

Elon Musk himself seems to be stepping back from DOGE. Earlier, the billionaire said during a meeting with Tesla shareholders that he would start devoting "one or two days" a week to his team. At the same time, Donald Trump has recently stopped mentioning Musk in his posts on Truth Social, although he used to actively write about him.