'We Don’t Want an AI Demo, We Want Answers’: Federal Workers Grill Trump Appointee During All-Hands
1 min read
Summary
Stephen Ehikian, acting administrator of US General Services Administration (GSA), held his first all-staff meeting, with some in-person and others tuning in online, since taking the helm of the agency last month, and his presentation of an AI proposition for the future did not go down well with many of those present.
The attendees had been hoping to hear about the reasons behind staffing cuts and the inhibition of access to key software, but Ehikian instead chose to showcase the GSAi chatbot for writing emails, which is due to be handed over to 13,000 GSA employees.
Many viewed the meeting as a waste of time, while others were concerned about the lack of detail on staff reductions.
The event highlighted the ongoing influence of Musk—who has significant allies within the GSA—with Ehikian and Thomas Shedd, a former Tesla engineer who now heads up the Technology Transformation Services, keen to put AI at the core of the GSA’s future plans.
