The Washington Post had an interesting article about how Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency crew were weeding out the waste that’s engulfed the capital. I don’t know if the Post was trying to cast this off as creepy—I think it’s cool: the DOGE crew is using artificial intelligence to find spending cuts (via WaPo):
Representatives from Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service have fed sensitive data from across the Education Department into artificial intelligence software to probe the agency’s programs and spending, according to two people with knowledge of the DOGE team’s actions.
The AI probe includes data with personally identifiable information for people who manage grants, as well as sensitive internal financial data, the two people said. They described DOGE activities at the Education Department on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
The DOGE team is using AI software accessed through Microsoft’s cloud computing service Azure to pore through every dollar of money the department disburses, from contracts to grants to work trip expenses, one of the people said. Lower level department staffers were directed by agency leadership to let Musk’s teams access the sensitive financial data, the person said.
The use of AI inside the Department of Education, which has not previously been reported, shows how Musk’s group, which includes former employees from his tech empire, is tapping the favorite tool of Silicon Valley as part of its mission to drastically slash the size and functions of the federal government.
At the Department of Education, the DOGE’s team aims to radically reduce spending and ultimately shrink the department and its staff, the people said — helping further the Trump administration’s push to get rid of it entirely.
If this is being weaponized to screw over the political class, trim the fat from government, and expose the waste and corruption as we’ve seen over the past few weeks, then so be it. Keep feeding that AI machine, which we’ll call Skynet but without the genocidal tendencies.
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) February 6, 2025
DOGE has been working so fast Democrats don’t know how to react. The Department of Education is being combed through; the USAID is dead; it has access to the accounts at the Small Business Administration and is analyzing things at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
All the Left can do is cope and seethe, as DOGE is working at the president’s direction.
How I view what DOGE is doing by going through these agencies, targeting wasteful spending, and booting worthless federal workers:
