Musk's team uses AI to process sensitive government data, causing controversy

Billionaire Elon Musk and his staff at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are using artificial intelligence technology to analyze sensitive government data to determine which expenses need to be cut, the Washington Post reported. This action involves project and fiscal expenditures from the Ministry of Education, and some staff members are even in their teenage years.

The specific AI tools used are not clear, but according to the report, the software is accessed through Microsoft's Azure cloud computing service. The data reviewed by the AI ​​system includes personal information and internal financial data of the management funding personnel. Nevertheless, Madi Biedermann, the new Deputy Assistant Secretary of Communications of the Ministry of Education, said that it is all legal and that the staff focus on improving the cost-effectiveness of the department and accountability for taxpayers.

However, many people expressed concern about this, believing that access to sensitive data by extremely young DOGE employees may cause safety risks. The former Biden administration has set a series of security testing and guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence, and DOGE seems to be deafing these warnings at present. Several large institutions, including some banks and Amazon, have banned employees from using large language models to avoid the risk of data breaches.

Experts have also raised many concerns about the security of AI models. "Do we want these tools to be put into government and society without any security?" , the public is full of distrust in the use of AI in American society.

Sources also revealed that the DOGE team also plans to use AI to cut down multiple government projects, including the diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiative. An anonymous Ministry of Education employee said DOGE staff were accessing information at an astonishing speed and had access to millions of personal data that had accepted federal student loans. "They have a script, they're getting the data, and once they go in, things are over," the employee added.