Marko Elez, a DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) employee, has had access to important data held by several US government departments, including Homeland Security, the Justice Department and the Social Security Administration.
However, Elez, by accident, exposed a private API key on GitHub that gives access to over 50 AI models developed by xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company.
A reminder of previous poor security lapses by Elez, including the unlawful disclosure of personal information when working for the Treasury and social media posts advocating racism and eugenics, casts doubt on his ability to handle sensitive government information appropriately.
Elez did not respond to requests for comments on the exposed API key, which has now been deactivated.
A previous DOGE employee had also exposed a private xAI key on GitHub two months earlier.