Ex-Twitter AI ethics lead Rumman Chowdhury is worried about Musk’s impact on the federal government

Rumman Chowdhury, a data scientist, nonprofit founder, and former director of Twitter’s machine ethics team, had strong words for Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during an SXSW panel on Thursday. “When your funding is frozen and you don’t know if you’re gonna be fired, and there’s this, like, absolutely unhinged person saying weird things on the internet constantly, you still have to do your job, right?” Chowdhury said. “The lights have to be kept on because Elon Musk is not the one keeping the lights on, even though he would like you to think that.” Musk and DOGE, which Musk is advising, have rushed to cut staff across U.S. federal agencies, in some cases in ways that compromise cybersecurity. The initiative has gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reduced headcount at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and fired probationary employees at the Federal Aviation Administration, among others. Chowdhury fears the brain drain re ... Read full article.