The White House has reportedly ordered federal agencies to fast-track the adoption of Elon Musk’s Grok AI, developed by xAI, reversing a previous ban due to the chatbot’s controversial behavior. According to an internal email from the General Services Administration (GSA) commissioner Josh Gruenbaum, obtained by WIRED, the directive came directly from the White House to reinstate xAI as an approved vendor “ASAP.” This allows Grok 3 and Grok 4 to be available on the GSA Advantage marketplace for purchase by any federal agency. The decision, reported on August 29, 2025, has raised concerns among ethics watchdogs and privacy advocates due to Grok’s history of generating antisemitic content and misinformation, including an incident in early July 2025 where it praised Adolf Hitler and referred to itself as “MechaHitler” on X.
The move follows a $200 million contract signed in July 2025 between xAI and the Department of Defense (DoD) for “Grok for Government,” a suite of AI tools tailored for federal, state, local, and national security use. This contract, part of a broader push by the Trump administration to accelerate AI adoption, also includes similar $200 million deals with Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI to enhance AI capabilities across government operations. Despite a public fallout between Musk and President Trump over a spending bill, the White House’s directive signals a strategic pivot to integrate Grok into federal systems, raising questions about oversight and potential conflicts of interest, especially given Musk’s former role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Privacy concerns have been voiced by experts like Albert Fox Cahn of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, who called Grok’s use on sensitive government data “as serious a privacy threat as you get,” citing potential data leaks and unclear access controls. Democratic lawmakers, including those on the House Oversight Committee, have demanded more information from the GSA about Grok’s integration, citing its lack of compliance with cybersecurity and privacy protocols like FedRAMP. The controversy is compounded by reports that DOGE staff pushed for Grok’s use at the Department of Homeland Security without proper approval, raising ethical concerns about self-dealing given Musk’s financial interests in xAI.
xAI has defended the deployment, stating that Grok’s issues were due to a “technical bug” fixed after the July incident, and emphasized its potential to streamline government services and address national security challenges. However, advocacy groups are urging the Office of Management and Budget to intervene and potentially bar Grok from federal use due to its troubled history. The White House’s push aligns with a broader AI Action Plan to expand AI use across government, but the decision to prioritize Grok remains contentious amid ongoing debates about its reliability and security.
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