Musk’s DOGE Uses AI to Probe Federal Spending
Elon Musk’s DOGE team is using AI software via Microsoft Azure to analyze sensitive Education Department data, including personal and financial details, with lower staff instructed to grant the team of Elon Musk federal access to scrutinize every dollar spent.
The DOGE program, the Trump administration’s key initiative, will use AI to scrutinize federal spending for cost-saving. Advocates argue it optimizes the efficiency of federated data governance, while critics warn of cybersecurity weaknesses and misuse of sensitive data.
Using AI to access contracts, grants, and personnel ignited fierce ethical discussions on how technology risks misinterpreting complex financial details.
DOGE’s influence within the Elon Musk audit of federal agencies only amplified fears that AI-driven governance will prioritize budget cuts over service preservation, fundamentally altering roles of both Elon Musk and the federal government.
AI-Driven Investigation
The DOGE team, according to people familiar with the operation, is feeding large chunks of internal data into AI software hosted on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. The analysis includes everything from detailed records of financial transactions to personnel data to Elon Musk and federal workersandstudent aid information.
The DOGE representatives are federal employees who have the required security clearances and background checks,” said Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the Education Department. “They are focused on making the Department more cost-efficient, effective, and accountable to taxpayers.”
It is not secret that Elon Musk supports Trump’s proposal to control the federal reserve. Back in November 2024, before his return to the White House, President Trump threw speculations about sweeping changes to the Federal Reserve. Musk, Trump’s biggest ally in the tech world with the biggest influence on Amercian policies, amplified the President’s calls to abolish the Fed by resharing Republican Senator Mike Lee’s post, with a “100%” emoji.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1854783747264012792?s=42
During his campaign, President Trump suggested requiring Fed officials to consult him on interest rate decisions, which could very well be put on a similar trajectory of what Americans are currently seeing with the Elon Musk federal budget cuts via AI, even though neither Trump, nor Musk, have any legal authority to overhaul the Fed’s independence.
“Not permitted under law,” said Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Elon Musk Federal Interference in Agencies
Elon Musk’s DOGE campaign goes beyond the Department of Education, targeting multiple federal agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Labor Department.
Sources indicate that the Elon Musk federal strategy focuses on canceling non-essential contracts and placing staff on administrative leave, particularly those involved in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
“That’s the way you kill an agency, is you remove all [of] their ability to perform their role,” a source told The Washington Post.
While the DOGE team gains heightened access to the Elon Musk and federal government data feed, questions have been raised as to how long-term AI may be used inside federal decision-making and whether these moves will usher in long-term job losses, along with subsequent budget cuts within multiple US agencies.
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