Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is working on a custom generative AI chatbot called GSAi for the US General Services Administration. The goal of this project, which has not been previously reported, is to boost the productivity of GSA’s 12,000 employees and analyze large amounts of contract data. DOGE hopes to use the chatbot and other AI tools to streamline processes and reduce costs.
The project comes as part of President Donald Trump’s AI-first agenda to modernize the federal government with advanced technology. Trump has ordered his lieutenants to strip away barriers to US global AI dominance, while his brother-in-law Jared Kushner has ties to tech investors like Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
DOGE is pushing for Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, a widely-known coding assistant, despite initial approval from the agency’s IT team being later retracted. The use of such tools raises concerns about cybersecurity risks and potential conflicts of interest, as federal regulations require agencies to avoid even the appearance of conflict in technology choices.
While the Biden administration prioritized security reviews for AI tools last year, no dedicated coding tools received authorization under FedRAMP, a GSA program aimed at centralizing security reviews. Individual agencies have explored licensing AI software, but DOGE’s push highlights challenges in adopting new technology due to resource constraints and security concerns.
DOGE’s efforts aim to boost efficiency across the federal government, but the process is fraught with potential risks and uncertainties, particularly when it comes to cybersecurity and conflicts of interest.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/doge-chatbot-ai-first-agenda