American billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE (Directorate of Government Ethics) team has begun using a customized version of the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot for data analysis in US federal agencies, Reuters reports, noting that the process could violate conflict of interest laws and jeopardize the protection of the personal and sensitive data of millions of Americans.
The Grok chatbot was developed by xAI, a company Musk founded in 2023 as part of his X social media platform. According to Reuters, it is unclear what type of data was entered into the Grok system or how the data security mechanism was configured.
Five leading experts in technology and government ethics have warned that if the information used contains confidential or sensitive government data, Grok’s involvement could violate state privacy and security laws. They also expressed concern that the use of such a model could allow Musk, through Tesla and SpaceX, to gain access to contractual data from agencies with which he has private businesses. In addition, this data could be used to train the Grok system for high-volume analytics.
Experts believe that using Grok in federal agencies could give Musk an unfair competitive advantage over other artificial intelligence service providers.
Elon Musk, the White House, and xAI did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters. However, a US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson denied allegations that the DOGE department pressured employees to use Grok. “DOGE does not force any employee to use any specific tool or product. Our mission is to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse,” the department spokesman stressed.
