Grok: These articles paint DOGE as a dual menace: a data goldmine for AI supremacy and an unaccountable bureaucratic juggernaut. The surprising overlap of Musk’s corporate and governmental roles...

...the controversial potential for AI-driven societal control and the valuable exposure of government data’s unmatched power make this a critical issue for privacy, democracy and technological ethics.

"DOGE Unveiled: The Alarming Power Grab of Government Data and Bureaucratic Control"

by Grok and based on these articles from Gizmodo and Wired.

Two articles published on March 9, 2025, delve into the contentious rise of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), exposing its unprecedented access to sensitive government data and its transformation into a shadowy, unelected force—potentially a "deep state" entity—under Elon Musk's influence. These pieces, one from The Conversation (republished by Gizmodo) and the other from WIRED, highlight surprising, controversial, and valuable insights into DOGE’s operations and their implications for privacy, democracy, and societal control.

The Conversation/Gizmodo: "DOGE Threat: How Government Data Would Give an AI Company Extraordinary Power"

Authored by Allison Stanger, this article reveals DOGE’s access to at least seven sensitive federal databases, including those of the IRS and Social Security Administration, sparking fears of cybersecurity risks and privacy breaches. The most surprising claim is the potential for this data to train AI systems at Musk’s xAI, despite White House denials. Evidence of dual employment—SpaceX staff with government email addresses at the FAA—suggests a conduit for federal data to flow to Musk’s companies, including xAI’s Grok chatbot, which evasively sidesteps questions about its training data. Stanger argues that this government data, unlike scraped internet content, offers verified, longitudinal records of real human behavior across entire populations—Medicare outcomes, IRS financial decisions, and infrastructure patterns—making it a "Holy Grail" for AI developers. The controversial assertion is that an AI trained on this could dominate industries like healthcare and finance, predict societal outcomes with unmatched precision, and even influence elections, posing a "democracy-shattering" threat if concentrated in a private entity like xAI. The valuable takeaway is the data’s unique reliability and breadth, potentially giving xAI an "almost insurmountable advantage" over competitors like OpenAI and Google.

WIRED: "DOGE is the Deep State"

This piece frames DOGE as a Musk-controlled "deep state," subverting democratic oversight with alarming speed and secrecy. The most surprising revelation is the extent of Musk’s ecosystem infiltrating government: current and former employees from SpaceX, Tesla, and X hold sway in agencies they regulate, while DOGE unilaterally cancels 10,000 humanitarian aid contracts and fires thousands of workers without cause—actions unchecked by Congress. Controversially, it accuses DOGE of embodying the very bureaucracy Musk decries, with his appointees driving cuts like the $1 spending limit that paralyzes federal agencies. A striking example is the use of an exemption for disabled workers to embed SpaceX staff at the FAA undetected. The valuable insight is the growing public backlash—protests in red districts and Supreme Court rebukes—suggesting DOGE’s control may falter if its impacts become undeniable. The article’s bold claim that DOGE mirrors Turkey’s 1970s military-led "deep state" underscores its threat to elected governance.

Key Takeaways:

Together, these articles paint DOGE as a dual menace: a data goldmine for AI supremacy and an unaccountable bureaucratic juggernaut. The surprising overlap of Musk’s corporate and governmental roles, the controversial potential for AI-driven societal control, and the valuable exposure of government data’s unmatched power make this a critical issue for privacy, democracy, and technological ethics as of March 9, 2025.