DOGE's 'AI-first' strategist is now the head of technology at the Dept of Labor

The ex-Tesla engineer #ThomasShedd has quietly become the CIO of the #labor dept as mass #layoffs & federal workforce automation continue.
https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/doges-ai-first-strategist-is-now

"Shedd... made waves for announcing that #DOGE would be implementing an “AI-first strategy” across the #government as it orchestrated the firing of... federal workers. Now he’s in charge of the #US #labor department’s #technology."

#Musk was not being truthful, #Rubio said. What about the >1,500 #State Dept ofcls who took early retirement in buyouts? Didn’t they count as #layoffs? He asked, sarcastically, whether Musk wanted him to rehire all those people so he could make a show of firing them again. Then he laid out his plans for reorganizing the State Dept.

Musk was unimpressed. He told Rubio he was “good on TV,” w/the clear subtext being that he was not good for much else.

The #SSA has offered buyouts to agency employees, w/a deadline of March 14, before #layoffs begin.

O’Malley predicted a massive political backlash if workers who have paid into the system their entire lives begin to see payments interrupted.

“People are going to start bringing a lot of heat to members of #Congress who have been enabling the destruction of #SocialSecurity & the interruption of earned #benefits,” O’Malley said.

The firings at one of the most important US #space #licensing agencies hit at a dire time for a booming US space industry that has long pushed for more nimble & simplified #satellite #regulatory processes…

But sources & individuals across the space industry & US govt…said these #layoffs are likely to trigger major delays in getting #spacecraft approved for #launch.
The #FAA, which signs off on rocket payloads, cannot approve a satellite launch requiring a #NOAA license if it hasn’t obtained it.

"These are like air traffic controllers for #space, they handle space traffic coordination to prevent collisions," one of the sources said, adding the #layoffs come at a bad time given the number of collision notices sent out. A collision notice is an alert that a satellite could collide w/another object in space.

"We are not talking a few dozen per year. We are talking tens of thousands," the source said. "It's like a game of chicken up there."

#ElonMusk's government *efficiency* effort has led to thousands of #layoffs in the federal government, disrupting government operations across the country. #Musk, who leads #space company #SpaceX, has long criticized space #regulations for being too *slow & outdated* [requiring him to abide w/safety standards & laws].

“#Mozilla is made up of several organizations, one of which is the #MozillaCorporation, which develops Firefox and other technologies, and another is its nonprofit and tax-exempt #MozillaFoundation, which oversees Mozilla’s corporate governance structure and sets the browser maker’s policies. Much of Mozilla’s work focused on advocating for #privacy, #inclusion, and #decentralization of #technologies, and “to create #safer, more #transparent online experiences for #everyone,” which ultimately benefit the #browser maker and its #users.

Announcing the layoffs in an email to all employees on October 30, the Mozilla Foundation’s executive director #NabihaSyed confirmed that two of the foundation’s major divisions — #Advocacy and #GlobalPrograms — are “no longer a part of our structure.””

There you go. One side of Mozilla builds the tools of the Internet, the other does… I can’t for the life of me see what. It’s the #MozillaFoundation who cant engineer the tools that are doing “deals” with others to make things safer.

The power to make change for the better of the Internet is being moved from direct impact, ie: basic technology and applied applications TO soft corporate influence through manifestos, papers, jobs and pay for influencers and collaborations with third parties…

I know what is more effective. Basic engineering and applied products because it scales.

#WhiteCollar / #Layoffs / #CorporatePolicy <https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/05/mozilla-foundation-lays-off-30-staff-drops-advocacy-division/>