Government Agencies Employ AI Tool to Cut Regulations, Sparking Controversy

Federal government agencies are reportedly utilizing an artificial intelligence tool developed by Elon Musk's DOGE initiative to identify regulations for potential elimination. The objective is to reduce the number of federal rules, aiming to cut approximately half of the existing 200,000 regulations.

The "DOGE AI Deregulation Tool" is currently in use at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The U.S. Doge Service is employing the tool to analyze around 200,000 regulations, seeking those deemed unnecessary or not legally mandated. The goal is to achieve a 50% reduction by next January, with the potential to save the government trillions of dollars in spending by the anniversary of a past presidential inauguration.

The DOGE tool has already been used to review over 1,000 "regulatory sections" at the housing department and has been responsible for "100% of deregulations" at the consumer protection bureau. Both the White House and the housing agency have characterized these efforts as preliminary. An administration spokesperson emphasized the expertise of the DOGE team, highlighting their ambition to transform government systems and operations to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a key figure in the DOGE program, previously discussed the possibility of significant cuts to federal spending, including the potential for mass layoffs of government employees.

Despite the initial ambitions, DOGE did not achieve the trillion-dollar cuts to federal spending that were initially suggested. The initiative, housed within a government tech agency renamed the U.S. DOGE Service, faced criticism from Democratic officials, as well as numerous lawsuits from agency employees and advocacy groups, who argued the initiative violated transparency rules, federal rule-making guidelines, and budget laws.