Pentagon Hires Former DOGE Official for AI Roles

(Patria) - The Pentagon on Friday appointed computer scientist Gavin Clinger to the position of chief data officer, who last year helped billionaire Elon Musk in his efforts to reform the government and who on the internet promoted white supremacists and misogynists, Reuters reported.

In a social media post, the Pentagon said Clinger's new role "places him at the center of the Department's most ambitious artificial intelligence efforts," focusing on "the daily alignment and execution of the Department's AI projects, working directly with U.S. AI border laboratories to support warriors.".

In social media posts between October 2024 and January 2025, Clinger expressed controversial views and reposted content from white supremacist Nick Fuentes and self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate.

The Pentagon's use of artificial intelligence (AI) has taken center stage following a fierce multi-week dispute with Anthropic over restrictions on how the military can use its AI tools, leading to the Donald Trump administration's decision last week to part ways with the company and replace it with OpenAI.

On Thursday, the Pentagon formally designated Anthropic as a company posing a supply chain risk – a designation previously given to U.S. rivals.

Anthropic has been more aggressive than all its rivals in courting U.S. national security officials. However, the company and the Pentagon have been in conflict for months over how the military can use their technology on the battlefield. This conflict came to light earlier this year.

Anthropic refused to waive prohibitions on its Claude artificial intelligence from operating autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon retaliated, saying it should be able to use this technology as needed, as long as it complies with U.S. laws.