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Fans of Joann have one last chance to grab fistfuls of fabric, yarn, and other critical sewing supplies before the ill-fated retailer closes for goodbut time is running out. The beloved brand, which has been winding down operations after seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for a second time, will close its last remaining stores at the end of May, meaning this is the last full weekend that they will be open for business. A spokesperson for GA Group, the asset firm that took control of Joann in February, shared the list of locations with Fast Company. It includes 444 stores in 45 states. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, Joann had roughly 800 locations, but hundreds of those stores closed in April, as Fast Company previously reported. Among the remaining stores, California has the most, with around 40 locations left. New York, Michigan, Texas, and Florida, and Arizona also have relatively large shares of stores on the list. Why did Joann fabrics unravel? Founded in 1943, Joann Inc. grew into a craft superstore with hundreds of locations in the ensuing decades as a publicly traded company. By the late 1990s, it was the country’s largest fabric and crafts retailer. The company was taken private in 2011 by private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners for around $1.6 billion, only to go public again a decade later as the COVID-19 pandemic was fueling a resurgence of crafting and other at-home activities. But those good times didn’t last, and the company eventually succumbed to a number of factors that have battered many physical retail chains in recent years, including high inflation and the broader shift to online shopping. When it filed for bankruptcy in January, it reported nearly $616 million in debt obligations. The remaining Joann stores have been holding going-out-of-business sales. According to GA Group, all stores will be closed by Saturday, May 31. You can find the full list below. Alaska Nugget Mall, Juneau Alabama Mobile Festival Centre, Mobile Riverchase Promenade, Hoover Huntsville Plaza, Huntsville Arkansas Spring Creek Centre, Fayetteville Arizona Santan Village Marketplace, Gilbert Santa Fe Square, Mesa Alameda Crossing, Avondale Riverview Mall, Bullhead City East Broadway Blvd, Tucson Buckhorn Plaza, Mesa The Riverview at Dobson, Mesa Queen Creek Marketplace, Queen Creek North Valley S/C, Peoria South Riordan Ranch Road, Flagstaff Ahwatukee Foothills Towne Center, Phoenix Desert Ridge Market Place, Phoenix Village At The Boulder, Prescott California Arden Square, Sacramento Park & Shop, Concord Safeway SC, San Jose Clovis Crossing Shopping Center, Clovis Conejo Valley Plaza, Thousand Oaks Buena Park Promenade, Buena Park Town Center Square, Rancho Cucamonga Towne House Plaza, Huntington Beach Orange Park Plaza, Orange Point Loma Plaza, San Diego Porter Ranch Town Center, Northridge Fletcher Hills Town & Country, El Cajon Centre Point Village, Santa Clarita Skypark Plaza, Chico Sunrise Village Shopping Center, Citrus Heights Vacaville Commons, Vacaville Stadium Center, Manteca Freestanding (Former Circuit City), Santa Maria Westridge Center, Salinas Santa Susana Plaza, Simi Valley Westridge Plaza, La Habra High Desert Gateway, Hesperia Von Karmen Plaza, Irvine Former Ralph’s Market, Laguna Niguel Village West Shopping Center, Hemet Commons At Temecula, Temecula Freestanding, Redding Elk Grove Marketplace, Elk Grove Fairway Commons, Roseville Monte Vista Crossing, Turlock Greenhouse Marketplace, San Leandro Sequoia Plaza, Visalia Pride Center, Woodland Hills Riverside Woodman Plaza, Sherman Oaks Del Amo Fashion Center, Torrance Orange Tree Marketplace, Redlands Monterey Marketplace II, Rancho Mirage Foothill Ranch Towne Center South, Foothill Ranch Camino Town & Country S/C, Oceanside Grand Plaza, San Marcos Park West Place, Stockton River Park Plaza, Fresno Colorado Southwest Commons, Littleton Freestanding, Former Circuit City, Lakewood Yosemite Park Mall, Centennial Mesa Mall, Grand Junction The Marketplace at Centerra, Loveland Thunderbird Plaza, Fort Collins Westminster City Center, Westminster First & Main Town Center, Colorado Springs Aurora City Square, Aurora Saddle Rock Village, Aurora Connecticut Ames S/C, Norwich Berlin Turnpike, Newington Freshwater Plaza, Enfield Shop Rite Plaza, Southington Plaza At Buckland Hills, Manchester Torrington Plaza, Torrington Delaware Christiana Town Center, Newark Centre At Dover, Dover Florida Plaza At Citrus Park, Tampa St Johns Town Center Jacksonville Volusia Plaza, Daytona Beach Tyrone Corners SC, Saint Petersburg Shady Oaks Shopping Center, Ocala 23rd Street Plaza, Panama City The Shoppes at Naples Center, Naples Argyle S/C, Jacksonville Square One Shopping Center, Jensen Beach Brantley Square, Altamonte Springs Village Crossroads, Lady Lake Merchants Crossing S/C, Fort Myers South Plaza, Fort Myers Shoppes at University Center, Bradenton Tradewinds S/C, Pensacola Colonial Landing, Orlando Shops At Avenue O, Winter Haven Capito Plaza, Tallahassee Curlew Crossing, Dunedin The Landings, Sarasota Target At Kissimmee West, Kissimmee Village Market Place, Tavares Village of Amelia, Yulee Georgia Suburban Plaza, Decatur Lakeshore Marketplace, Gainesville North Point Commons, Alpharetta Freestanding, Athens Columbus Park Crossing, Columbus Freestanding, Kennesaw Iowa Metro North Shopping Center, Ankeny Lindale Mall, Cedar Rapids Crossroads Commons, Waterloo Plaza 20, Dubuque Valley Court Shopping Center, Clive Village S/C, Davenport Iowa City Marketplace, Iowa City Idaho Karcher Mall, Nampa Pocatello Square, Pocatello Federal Way Plaza, Boise American Plaza, Twin Falls Illinois State Street Market, Rockford Town & Country SC, Arlington Heights Freestanding Building, Moline Freestanding, Algonquin Naper West Plaza, Naperville Countryside Plaza, Countryside Lake View Plaza, Orland Park Bloomington Commons, Bloomington The Shoppes At Geneva Commons, Geneva Riverfront Plaza, Chicago Former Circuit City, Springfield Commerce Plaza, Fairview Heights Marketplace at Vernon Hills, Vernon Hills Bloomingdale Court, Bloomingdale Chestnut Court, Darien Metro S/C, Peoria Indiana Waterford North, Clarksville Honey Creek Commons, Terre Haute Greenbriar Shopping Center, Indianapolis Kokomo Shopping Center, Kokomo Northwest Plaza, Muncie Merrillville Plaza, Merrillville Whitehall Plaza, Bloomington Sagamore @ 26 Shopping Center, Lafayette Wilshire Plaza, Mishawaka Avon Town Square, Avon The Shoppes Of Schererville, Schererville Shoe Carnival Towne Centre, Evansville Greenwood Pavilion, Greenwood Castle Glen Plaza, Indianapolis Market Centre, Goshen JOANN Plaza, Fort Wayne Kansas Crosswinds Commons, Topeka West 63Rd Street, Shawnee North Rock Road, Wichita Overland Park S/C, Overland Park Westgate Market, Wichita Kentucky Houston Lakes, Florence Shelbyville Road Plaza, Louisville Crossroads SC, Lexington Louisiana Siegen Lane Marketplace, Baton Rouge Ambassador Row, Lafayette Wilshire Plaza, Metairie Massachusetts Middlesex Commons, Burlington Shaw’s Plaza, Raynham Broadway Shopping Center, Saugus Middleton Market Place, Middleton Walpole Mall, East Walpole Hanover Commons, Hanover Ann & Hope Plaza, Seekonk Westford Valley Mkt, Westford Milford Plaza, Milford Old Shrewsbury Village, Shrewsbury North Attleboro Marketplace, North Attleboro Dalton Ave Plaza, Pittsfield Worcester Road, Natick Maryland Westminster S/C, Westminster Columbia Crossing, Columbia Perring Plaza, Parkville South End S/C, Hagerstown Frederick County S/C, Frederick Maine Jfk Mall, Waterville Stillwater Avenue, Bangor Pine Tree S/C, Portland Topsham Fair Mall, Topsham Michigan Toys “R” Us Plaza, Portage Former Best Buy, Comstock Park Indian Hills Plaza, Mount Pleasant White Lake Market Place, White Lake Freestanding (Former Circuit City), Roseville Westland Shopping Center, Lansing The Crossings At Taylor, Taylor Scottdale Plaza, Benton Harbor Lake Crossings, Norton Shores Northwest Plaza, Midland The Auburn Mile, Auburn Hills Hampton Plaza, Rochester Hills Frandor S/C, Lansing Century Center, Grandville East Bay Plaza, Traverse City Genesee Commons S/C, Flint Madison Place S/C, Madison Heights Brighton Mall, Brighton The Shoppes At Centerpoint, Grand Rapids Saginaw Square, Saginaw West Oaks II, Novi Shelby Town Center, Shelby Township New Towne Centre, Canton Wisner Street Plaza, Jackson Valley View Center S/C, Ypsilanti Minnesota Riverdale Village, Coon Rapids Madison East Mall, Mankato Elk Park Center, Elk River Viking Plaza Mall, Alexandria Birch Run Station, Maplewood Westgate Mall, Brainerd Bonaventure Plaza, Minnetonka Apple Valley Square, Apple Valley Crossroads of Roseville, Roseville Division Street Plaza, Saint Cloud Arbor Lakes S/C, Maple Grove Yorktown Mall, Edina Rochester Marketplace, Rochester Tamarack Village, Woodbury Missouri Rockbridge Shopping Center, Columbia Central Plaza, Ballwin Platte Purchase Plaza, Kansas City Former Circuit City, Saint Louis Northpark Mall, Joplin Primrose Market Place, Springfield Bolger Square, Independence Mid Rivers, St Peters Montana Brookstone Square, Kalispell Market Place, Billings Gallatin Valley Mall, Bozeman Holiday Village, Missoula Holiday Village Mall, Great Falls North Carolina Carolina Pavilions, Charlotte Overlook Village, Asheville The Falls Centre, Raleigh University Centre, Wilmington Oak Creek Village S/C, Durham Cross Creek Plaza, Fayetteville Morganton Heights, Morganton The Shoppes On Market, Greensboro North Dakota Columbia Junction Mall Grand Forks Town & Country S/C Minot TJ Maxx Plaza Fargo Nebraska East Park Plaza Lincoln Baker Square Omaha New Hampshire Newington Park Newington Capitol S/C Concord Nashua Mall Plaza Nashua New Jersey Colonia Plaza, Colonia Mercer On One, Lawrenceville Shrewsbury Plaza, Shrewsbury Deptford Plaza, Deptford Riverdale Crossing, Riverdale Festival At Hamilton S/C, Mays Landing Freestanding (Former Comp USA), Paramus 1379 Hooper Avenue, Toms River Centerton Square, Mount Laurel Garden State Pavillion, Cherry Hill Roxbury Mall, Succasunna New Mexico Cottonwood West Shopping Center Albuquerque Plaza Farmington Farmington Nevada Best In The West S/C Las Vegas Peckham Square Reno Sunmark Plaza Henderson New York JOANN Plaza, Williamsville Salisbury Plaza, Westbury McKinley Milestrip Plaza, Blasdell Marketfair North, Clay Queensbury Plaza, Queensbury New Hartford S/C, New Hartford Towne Center At Fayetteville, Fayetteville Southern Tier Crossing, Horseheads Wegmans Plaza, Penfield Burlington Plaza, Amherst Roseland Center, Canandaigua Fairview Plaza, Hudson Sayville Plaza, Bohemia Parkway Plaza, Vestal Southtown Plaza, Rochester Northway Mall, Albany Midway Plaza, Scarsdale Ohio Beavercreek Towne Centre, Fairborn Reynolds Plaza, Toledo Colerain Towne Center, Cincinnati Taylor Square S/C, Reynoldsburg Easton Square, Columbus Golden Gate, Mayfield Heights Shops @ Boardman Park, Youngstown Acme Plaza, Akron Arbor Square, Mason Medina Grande Shoppes, Medina Freestanding (frm Circuit City), Toledo Eastgate Crossing, Cincinnati Athens Mall, Athens The Festival At Sawmill, Dublin Southland S/C, Middleburg Heights Erie Commons, Mentor Miami Valley Crossing, Piqua Midway Market Square, Elyria Hyde Park Plaza, Cincinnati Lincoln Village Plaza, Columbus Springfield S/C, Mansfield Great Northern S/C, North Olmsted Belden Parke Crossing, North Canton Darrow Road, Hudson South Towne Centre, Dayton Oklahoma Rockwell Plaza, Oklahoma City Union Plaza, Tulsa Champtions Centre, Norman Oregon Former Salvation Army, Clackamas Molalla Avenue, Oregon City Bi-Mart Plaza, Albany Corvallis Crossing, Corvallis Grants Pass Shopping Center, Grants Pass Gresham Town Fair, Gresham Lancaster Mall, Salem Freestanding, Eugene Crossroads at Orenco Station, Hillsboro Pioneer Crossing, Bend Roseburg Marketplace, Roseburg Mohawk Market Place, Springfield Tigard Shopping Plaza, Tigard Sw 4Th Ave, Ontario Pennsylvania Montgomery Commons S/C, North Wales Cranberry Mall, Cranberry Twp Robinson Town Centre, Pittsburgh Ashbridge Square, Downingtown South York Crossing, York Quakertown Plaza, Quakertown Dickson City Crossing, Dickson City Creekview Center, Warrington Ross Towne Center, Pittsburgh Greengate Centre, Greensburg Former Borders, Reading Colonial Commons, Harrisburg Boulevard Plaza, Philadelphia The Court At Oxford Valley, Fairless Hills West Side Mall, Edwardsville Macarthur Towne Center, Whitehall William Penn Hwy, Monroeville Pittsburgh Mills, Tarentum Parkview Plaza, Lancaster West Shore Plaza, Lemoyne Rhode Island Marketplace Center, Warwick South Carolina Seaboard Commons, Myrtle Beach Fountain S/C, West Columbia Westgate Crossing, Spartanburg South Dakota Plaza 41 (Former Holz Haus), Sioux Falls Tennessee Towne Centre, Murfreesboro Shops of Forest Hill, Germantown Providence Marketplace, Mount Juliet Village Of Rivergate, Madison Hamilton Village, Chattanooga Cool Springs Market, Franklin The Centre at Deane Hill, Knoxville Texas Tejas Center, Bryan Baybrook Village, Webster Colony Square, Sugar Land Midlothian Towne Crossing, Midlothian Towne Center, Mc Kinney Rockridge Plaza, Lubbock Meyerland Plaza, Houston The Village at Cumberland Park, Tyler The Pavillions, San Antonio Price Plaza, Katy Central Texas Marketplace, Waco Dowlen Town Center, Beaumont Witte Plaza, Houston Deerbrook Marketplace, Humble Hulen Fashion Center, Fort Worth East Mockingbird Lane, Dallas Village At Collin Creek, Plano Shops At Soncy, Amarillo Yarbrough Plaza, El Paso Southpark Meadows, Austin Bandera Pointe, San Antonio Willowchase Center, Houston University Oaks, Round Rock Woodlands Home Center, Spring Lakepointe Towne Crossing , Lewisville South Frisco Village, Frisco Rayzor Ranch, Denton Shops at Arbor Walk, Austin Ridgemar Town Square, Fort Worth Utah Freestanding (Former Albertsons), Tooele Cotton Mill Shopping Center, Washington Northgate Shopping Center, Spanish Fork Clinton Towne Center, Clinton South Main Street, Logan Renaissance Square, Cedar City Gardner Towne Center, Vernal Centerville Marketplace, Centerville Draper Retail Center, Draper Family Center at Riverdale, Riverdale Virgina Prince William Square, Woodbridge Tower Shopping Center, Roanoke Millwood Pike, Winchester Cosner’s Corner, Fredericksburg Westchester Commons, Midlothian Sugarland Crossing, Sterling Fairfax Towne Center, Fairfax Hilltop Plaza, Virginia Beach Rio Hill SC, Charlottesville Crossways Shopping Center, Chesapeake Vermont Commerce Square, South Burlington Washington Mount Vernon Plaza, Mount Vernon Target Place Plaza, Olympia Five Mile S/C, Spokane Market Pointe I, Spokane Valley Sunset Square, Bellingham Lynnwood Center, Lynnwood Pavilions Centre, Federal Way Boulevard Centre, Tacoma Aurora Ave North, Shoreline Columbia Center, Kennewick Tieton Village S/C, Yakima East 29Th Avenue, Spokane Totem Pole, Vancouver Gateway Shopping Center, Arlington High Point S/C, Port Orchard Silverdale Plaza, Silverdale Southcenter Parkway, Tukwila Orchards Market Center, Vancouver Wisconsin Koeller Plaza, Oshkosh North Pointe Centre, Menomonee Falls Oak Pointe Plaza, Eau Claire Deer Trace Shopping Center, Sheboygan Falls Regency Mall, Racine Marketplace at Janesville, Janesville Crossing Meadows Plaza, Onalaska Market Place SC, Wisconsin Dells Fox River Valley SC, Appleton Brookfield Fashion Center, Brookfield East Town Plaza, Madison Geneva Commons, Lake Geneva Rib Mountain Drive, Wausau Bayside Market Place, Green Bay Greenfield Fashion Center, Greenfield Westland Plaza, Madison Fletcher Square, Dunbar Wyoming Frontier Mall, Cheyenne
Category:
E-Commerce
The Chinese government said Friday that the Trump administration’s move to ban international students from Harvard would harm America’s international standing, as anxious students and parents overseas fretted over what would come next.Among the two largest parts of the international student community in Harvard are Chinese and Indian students. The university enrolled 6,703 international students across all of its schools in 2024, according to the school’s data, with 1,203 of those from China and 788 from India.The Trump administration’s move, announced Thursday, was a hot topic on Chinese social media. State broadcaster CCTV questioned whether the U.S. would remain a top destination for foreign students, noting Harvard was already suing the U.S. government in court.“But with the long litigation period, thousands of international students may have trouble waiting,” the CCTV commentary said.It went on to say that it becomes necessary for international students to consider other options “when policy uncertainty becomes the norm.”Educational cooperation with the U.S. is mutually beneficial and China opposes its politicization, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing in Beijing.“The relevant actions by the U.S. side will only damage its own image and international credibility,” she said.She added that China would firmly protect the rights and interests of Chinese students and scholars abroad but she didn’t offer any details on how it would do so in this situation.Indian authorities say they currently assessing the impact of the U.S. order on Indian students who are already enrolled with Harvard, as well as those aspiring to study there in future, but have not issued any statements of criticism. Chinese students in U.S. previous point of tension The issue of Chinese students studying overseas has long been a point of tension in the relationship with the United States. During Trump’s first term, China’s Ministry of Education warned students about rising rejections rates and shorter terms for visas in the U.S.Last year, the Chinese foreign ministry protested that a number of Chinese students had been interrogated and sent home upon arrival at U.S. airports.Chinese state media has long played up gun violence in the U.S. and portrayed America as a dangerous place. Some Chinese students are opting to study in the U.K. or other countries rather than the U.S.Meanwhile, two universities in Hong Kong extended invites to affected students. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said it would welcome international students already at Harvard and those who have been admitted in a statement Friday. City University in Hong Kong did as well without mentioning Harvard by name.Some people in China joked online about having the university open a branch in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, whose name shares the same character as Harvard’s name in Chinese. Wait and see Mumbai-based higher education and career advisory firm, ReachIvy, is receiving anxious queries from aspirants and their parents about the impact of Trump administration’s latest move.The company’s founder, Vibha Kagzi, herself an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, said they were advising students to keep calm, and wait to see how the situation unfolds as legal challenges were underway.“Harvard will surely fight back,” she said, adding that the situation remains fluid.Kagzi, while recalling her days from 2010 at Harvard, said the U.S. was then welcoming international students and its immigration policies supported educational aspirants.“Indian students should stay hopeful. Universities value global talent and are exploring all options to ensure continuity in admission and learning,” she said. Associated Press writer Kanis Leung in Hong Kong and AP researcher Shihuan Chen contributed. Roy reported from New Delhi. Huizhong Wu and Rajesh Roy, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
Billionaire Elon Musks DOGE team is expanding use of his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok in the U.S. federal government to analyze data, said three people familiar with the matter, potentially violating conflict-of-interest laws and putting at risk sensitive information on millions of Americans. Such use of Grok could reinforce concerns among privacy advocates and others that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team appears to be casting aside long-established protections over the handling of sensitive data as President Donald Trump shakes up the U.S. bureaucracy. One of the three people familiar with the matter, who has knowledge of DOGEs activities, said Musk’s team was using a customized version of the Grok chatbot. The apparent aim was for DOGE to sift through data more efficiently, this person said. They ask questions, get it to prepare reports, give data analysis. The second and third person said DOGE staff also told Department of Homeland Security officials to use it even though Grok had not been approved within the department. Reuters could not determine the specific data that had been fed into the generative AI tool or how the custom system was set up. Grok was developed by xAI, a tech operation that Musk launched in 2023 on his social media platform, X. If the data was sensitive or confidential government information, the arrangement could violate security and privacy laws, said five specialists in technology and government ethics. It could also give the Tesla and SpaceX CEO access to valuable nonpublic federal contracting data at agencies he privately does business with or be used to help train Grok, a process in which AI models analyze troves of data, the experts said. Musk could also gain an unfair competitive advantage over other AI service providers from use of Grok in the federal government, they added. Musk, the White House and xAI did not respond to requests for comment. A Homeland Security spokesperson denied DOGE had pressed DHS staff to use Grok. DOGE hasnt pushed any employees to use any particular tools or products, said the spokesperson, who did not respond to further questions. DOGE is here to find and fight waste, fraud and abuse. Musk’s xAI, an industry newcomer compared to rivals OpenAI and Anthropic, says on its website that it may monitor Grok users for specific business purposes. “AI’s knowledge should be all-encompassing and as far-reaching as possible,” the website says. As part of Musk’s stated push to eliminate government waste and inefficiency, the billionaire and his DOGE team have accessed heavily safeguarded federal databases that store personal information on millions of Americans. Experts said that data is typically off limits to all but a handful of officials because of the risk that it could be sold, lost, leaked, violate the privacy of Americans or expose the country to security threats. Typically, data sharing within the federal government requires agency authorization and the involvement of government specialists to ensure compliance with privacy, confidentiality and other laws. Analyzing sensitive federal data with Grok would mark an important shift in the work of DOGE, a team of software engineers and others connected to Musk. They have overseen the firing of thousands of federal workers, seized control of sensitive data systems and sought to dismantle agencies in the name of combating alleged waste, fraud and abuse. Given the scale of data that DOGE has amassed and given the numerous concerns of porting that data into software like Grok, this to me is about as serious a privacy threat as you get, said Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a nonprofit that advocates for privacy. His concerns include the risk that government data will leak back to xAI, a private company, and a lack of clarity over who has access to this custom version of Grok. DOGE’s access to federal information could give Grok and xAI an edge over other potential AI contractors looking to provide government services, said Cary Coglianese, an expert on federal regulations and ethics at the University of Pennsylvania. The company has a financial interest in insisting that their product be used by federal employees, he said. APPEARANCE OF SELF-DEALING In addition to using Grok for its own analysis of government data, DOGE staff told DHS officials over the last two months to use Grok even though it had not been approved for use at the sprawling agency, said the second and third person. DHS oversees border security, immigration enforcement, cybersecurity and other sensitive national security functions. If federal employees are officially given access to Grok for such use, the federal government has to pay Musks organization for access, the people said. They were pushing it to be used across the department, said one of the people. Reuters could not independently establish if and how much the federal government would have been charged to use Grok. Reporters also couldnt determine if DHS workers followed the directive by DOGE staff to use Grok or ignored the request. DHS, under the previous Biden administration, created policies last year allowing its staff to use specific AI platforms, including OpenAIs ChatGPT, the Claude chatbot developed by Anthropic and another AI tool developed by Grammarly. DHS also created an internal DHS chatbot. The aim was to make DHS among the first federal agencies to embrace the technology and use generative AI, which can write research reports and carry out other complex tasks in response to prompts. Under the policy, staff could use the commercial bots for non-sensitive, non-confidential data, while DHSs internal bot could be fed more sensitive data, records posted on DHSs website show. In May, DHS officials abruptly shut down employee access to all commercial AI tools including ChatGPT after workers were suspected of improperly using them with sensitive data, said the second and third sources. Instead, staff can still use the internal DHS AI tool. Reuters could not determine whether this prevented DOGE from promoting Grok at DHS. DHS did not respond to questions about the matter. Musk, the worlds richest person, told investors last month that he would reduce his time with DOGE to a day or two a week starting in May. As a special government employee, he can only serve for 130 days. It’s unclear when that term ends. If he reduces his hours to part time, he could extend his term beyond May. He has said, however, that his DOGE team will continue with their work as he winds down his role at the White House. If Musk was directly involved in decisions to use Grok, it could violate a criminal conflict-of-interest statute which bars officials including special government employees from participating in matters that could benefit them financially, said Richard Painter, ethics counsel to former Republican President George W. Bush and a University of Minnesota professor. This gives the appearance that DOGE is pressuring agencies to use software to enrich Musk and xAI, and not to the benefit of te American people, said Painter. The statute is rarely prosecuted but can result in fines or jail time. If DOGE staffers were pushing Groks use without Musks involvement, for instance to ingratiate themselves with the billionaire, that would be ethically problematic but not a violation of the conflict-of-interest statute, said Painter. We cant prosecute it, but it would be the job of the White House to prevent it. It gives the appearance of self-dealing. The push to use Grok coincides with a larger DOGE effort led by two staffers on Musks team, Kyle Schutt and Edward Coristine, to use AI in the federal bureaucracy, said two other people familiar with DOGEs operations. Coristine, a 19-year-old who has used the online moniker “Big Balls,” is one of DOGEs highest-profile members. Schutt and Coristine did not respond to requests for comment. DOGE staffers have attempted to gain access to DHS employee emails in recent months and ordered staff to train AI to identify communications suggesting an employee is not loyal to Trumps political agenda, the two sources said. Reuters could not establish whether Grok was used for such surveillance. In the last few weeks, a group of roughly a dozen workers at a Department of Defense agency were told by a supervisor that an algorithmic tool was monitoring some of their computer activity, according to two additional people briefed on the conversations. Reuters also reviewed two separate text message exchanges by people who were directly involved in the conversations. The sources asked that the specific agency not be named out of concern over potential retribution. They were not aware of what tool was being used. Using AI to identify the personal political beliefs of employees could violate civil service laws aimed at shielding career civil servants from political interference, said Coglianese, the expert on federal regulations and ethics at the University of Pennsylvania. In a statement to Reuters, the Department of Defense said the departments DOGE team had not been involved in any network monitoring nor had DOGE been directed to use any AI tools, including Grok. Its important to note that all government computers are inherently subject to monitoring as part of the standard user agreement, said Kingsley Wilson, a Pentagon spokesperson. The department did not respond to follow-up questions about whether any new monitoring systems had been deployed recently. (Additional reporting by Jeffrey Dastin and Alexandra Alper. Editing by Jason Szep) Marisa Taylor, Alexandra Ulmer, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
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