Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is using artificial intelligence to monitor the communications of employees at at least one federal agency for hostility toward President Donald Trump and his plans, Reuters reported, citing sources.
The DOGE team is also actively using the Grok chatbot from Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI to vet the federal government, but how exactly is unknown. In addition, like many US government employees, DOGE uses the encrypted messenger Signal for communication, which is likely in violation of federal record-keeping rules.
Reuters, based on interviews with about 20 people familiar with DOGE’s activities and a review of documents, reports that Musk’s team is actively applying artificial intelligence and other technologies to many federal agency operations. In particular, DOGE used AI to monitor employees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including how they speak out about Trump and Musk.
Trump-appointed EPA officials told agency managers that Musk's team was monitoring employee software using AI, including Microsoft Teams, which is widely used for communication.
"We have been told they are looking for anti-Trump or anti-Musk language," says one of the sources.
Despite Musk’s team’s original goal of modernizing government systems and cutting $1 trillion in spending, DOGE’s actions have drawn criticism from Democrats, and sometimes even Republicans and independents. Democrats in particular believe that Musk and Trump are purging the government of nonpartisan civil servants and appointing loyalists who will turn a blind eye to corruption.
However, the controversial approach of Elon Musk and his team to carrying out their duties did not please even Trump's inner circle. In early April, reports emerged that Musk would soon leave his position at DOGE, although the Trump administration initially stated that the billionaire would remain in the White House for the long term.