Elon Musk exits DOGE. Grok highlights '$135 billion in lost productivity' among his 'achievements'

US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk speak before departing the White House on March 14. (Image credit: AFP)

Minutes after Elon Musk announced on X his decision to step down from his role as a top advisor to US President Donald Trump, the platform's AI assistant, Grok, highlighted that the Tesla CEO potentially cost the administration $135 billion in "lost productivity, legal challenges, and service disruptions". It generated the response when an X user prompted it to summarise Musk's achievements at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

"As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending," Musk shared early on Thursday. “The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

Commenting on Musk's post, when a user asked Grok to summarise his achievements as an official, it replied: "As a Special Government Employee, Elon Musk led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), claiming $160 billion in savings by terminating wasteful contracts, like $255 million from 269 contracts, and modernising IT systems, such as digitizing the OPM retirement process. DOGE also cleaned Social Security records and supported voter integrity measures. However, these efforts face criticism for potential costs of $135 billion in lost productivity, legal challenges, and service disruptions. Concerns about Musk's business conflicts and political motivations persist, with public opinion divided, as 54 percent view him unfavourably. The true impact of DOGE remains debated amid ongoing scrutiny."

A White House official, who asked to remain unnamed, confirmed Musk's departure to the Associated Press news agency.

Trump's response to Musk's criticism of his 'big beautiful bill'

Musk's decision to leave the Trump administration follows his criticism of what the US President calls his “big beautiful bill”. Musk expressed "disappointment" with the legislation, which includes tax cuts and enhanced immigration enforcement. Speaking to CBS, the richest person in the world described it as a “massive spending bill” that increases the federal deficit and "undermines the work" of DOGE. "I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful. But I don't know if it could be both," Musk said.

In response, the US president defended his agenda and highlighted the complex political negotiations needed to pass the legislation. "Number one, we have to get a lot of votes,” Trump said. “We can’t be cutting — you know, we need, we need to get a lot of support... I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it. We're going to see what happens."

Republicans recently pushed the measure through the House and are currently debating it in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson has urged senators not to make major changes to the legislation, explaining that House Republicans reached a "very delicate balance" that could be undone by significant alterations, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reported.