Top secret US government website uncovered as Trump's AI plans are leaked to public
Just in case you weren't already worried that the United States was heading toward a technological future relying on artificial intelligence, a secret government website has seemingly revealed President Donald Trump's grand plans.
There are numerous concerns about AI, and more than just the damage it's doing to the planet, there are obvious worries it's evolving quicker than we can keep up with, while others suggest it could even wipe out humanity in as little as two years.
Donald Trump has aimed to prove that he's keeping up with tech, and while he's signed the Take It Down Act to alleviate some of the complaints about AI, he's also shaken hands on a $500 billion AI deal.
With July 4 just around the corner, it looks like this year's Independence Day will have a heavy AI theme.
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A leaked GitHub page has revealed a government site called ai.gov, which is set to launch on July 4. Uncovered by 404Media researchers, ai.gov aims to "accelerate government innovation with AI." An early version of the site was posted on GitHub by the General Services Administration (GSA), and although it's now been taken down, everyone is talking about it.
By the looks of it, ai.gov will be used as a hub where government agencies will be able to adopt AI integration into their processes.
It's said that the GSA department responsible for ai.gov is the Technology Transformation Service (TTS), which is headed up by Thomas Shedd. Shedd is an ally of Elon Musk, although given the world's richest man's recent fracas with the POTUS, we doubt he'll be involved in the project.
The site looks to have three main parts, involving a chatbot, as well as an 'all-in-one' Application Programming Interface that will connect existing systems with AI models from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI. The final component is 'CONSOLE', which is described as a "groundbreaking tool to analyze agency-wide implementation."
AI models will supposedly be served through Amazon Bedrock, while most of the models listed are FedRAMP certified for use by the government.
Still, researchers noted that one model from AI firm Cohere isn't FedRamp certified.
Shedd has previously discussed AI integration and asked for help modernizing systems before telling workers, "Things are going to get intense."
The former Tesla engineer reiterated how he wants to create "AI coding agents" that can write government software for different agencies and be trained on existing government contracts.
In the aftermath of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashing the federal workforce, there has already been talk of the IRS potentially replacing its fired workers with AI. Similarly, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs could be restructured with an AI workforce.
Replying on Reddit, there were obvious concerns. One critic wrote: "Do these guys think 'small government' just means employing the least possible amount of people?."
Another added: "Their level of incompetence is unbelievable. Don't be surprised if every member in this admin has their electronic devices hacked by multiple countries."
A third concluded: "They are going to launch a brand new platform that connects all government computers and all personal information on a Friday of a holiday weekend? I'm beginning to think these guys... these guys might not be very smart."