Musk's DOGE team expands Grok AI use in US government, raising conflict-of-interest concerns
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team reportedly expanded use of his Grok AI chatbot across US federal government agencies to analyze data, including accessing heavily safeguarded databases containing personal information on millions of Americans. The arrangement reportedly raises conflict-of-interest and data security concerns, as Grok had not been approved within some departments and experts warned it could violate security and privacy laws.
What happened
Billionaire Elon Musk's DOGE team is expanding use of his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok in the U.S. federal government to analyze data, said three people familiar with the matter.
Musk's team was using a customized version of the Grok chatbot, with the apparent aim for DOGE to sift through data more efficiently. DOGE staff also told Department of Homeland Security officials to use it even though Grok had not been approved within the department.
As part of Musk's stated push to eliminate government waste and inefficiency, the billionaire and his DOGE team have accessed heavily safeguarded federal databases that store personal information on millions of Americans.
Reported impact
Such use of Grok could reinforce concerns among privacy advocates and others that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team appears to be casting aside long-established protections over the handling of sensitive data.
If the data was sensitive or confidential government information, the arrangement could violate security and privacy laws, said five specialists in technology and government ethics. It could also give the Tesla and SpaceX CEO access to valuable nonpublic federal contracting data at agencies he privately does business with or be used to help train Grok.
Index analysis
The use of an unapproved AI system to access sensitive federal databases containing personal information on millions of Americans raises questions about data security and compliance with government approval processes.
Experts noted the potential for conflict of interest, as Musk could gain access to valuable nonpublic federal contracting data at agencies with which he privately does business, and could obtain an unfair competitive advantage over other AI service providers from use of Grok in the federal government.
Governance controls
Grok had not been approved within the Department of Homeland Security, yet DOGE staff told DHS officials to use it. A Homeland Security spokesperson denied DOGE had pressed DHS staff to use Grok.
Reuters could not determine the specific data that had been fed into the generative AI tool or how the custom system was set up.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.