EXCLUSIVE: White House rolls out implementation of AI for federal employee records

Fox News Digital has learned that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will post an updated Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) at the close of business Wednesday that paves the way for artificial intelligence to improve government efficiency and enhance the federal record-keeping process. 

This will be the first time the United States government has applied the use of artificial intelligence for federal employee record-keeping after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January to “solidify [America’s] position as the global leader in AI and secure a brighter future for all Americans.”

A senior White House official spoke with Fox News Digital, outlining the implementation process, detailing that the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP)-approved AI system will be used to drastically speed up the retirement process for the roughly 2.3 million federal employees and improve the accuracy of what is now mostly paper-based record keeping.

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While the AI system will not be immediately operational, updating the PIA is the first step in opening the door to a full-scale roll-out. The senior White House official explained that the artificial intelligence program has already been tested to 100% accuracy in a simulated environment, but that no testing on actual data can be completed without the updated PIA.

Part of the inspiration for using AI to improve federal record keeping comes from Elon Musk’s DOGE keying in on a decommissioned, underground mine in Boyers, Pennsylvania. The mine, which is home to more than 400,000,000 personal records for federal employees, is heavily reliant on an ineffective paper-based system. 

Though federal employee records are now filed through OPM’s electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF), there is also a duplicate paper record printed as a PDF that is stored at the Pennsylvania mine.

Operating under the current system, processing the retirement of a federal employee can take weeks or months, per file, and there is still room for human error.

With the implementation of artificial intelligence, the senior White House official told Fox it could take less than one second to finalize a federal employee’s retirement.

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While there is no intention to digitize or remove the hundreds of millions of files that exist in the mine, the AI system would ensure that no new paper files would be added to the already overwhelming number of physical copies that exist. 

Outdated filing systems have placed a burden on the efficiency of federal record keeping, as many of the files are old, illegible PDFs that can take several employees days or weeks to review, and the results have a higher chance of being inaccurate.

“Antiquated, inefficient, and slow are words synonymous with government, all of which ended the day President Trump took office,” Harrison Fields, Principal White House Deputy Press Secretary, told Fox News Digital, “Today’s action follows the president’s historic AI Executive Order and will usher in historic efficiency at the Office of Personnel Management, streamlining the organization tasked with serving as the human resources agency and personnel policy manager for the Federal Government.”

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The White House also issued an AI-focused concentrated fact sheet Tuesday, establishing federal “Agency Chief AI Officer roles” who “are tasked with promoting agency-wide AI innovation and the adoption of lower-risk AI, mitigating risks for higher-impact AI, and advising on agency AI investments and spending.”

The senior White House official clarified to Fox News Digital that despite the AI implementation, federal employees will still be able to self-review and assess personal records at their discretion.