State Department Turns To AI Chatbot Powered By Palantir-Microsoft Tech To Pick Promotion Review Panels

The U.S. State Department will use artificial intelligence to help select staff for annual promotion review panels, expanding AI deployment across federal agencies under the Trump administration.

What Happened: The State Department will employ StateChat, an in-house AI chatbot powered by Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR and Microsoft Corp. MSFT technology, to choose foreign service officers for Foreign Service Selection Boards. These panels conduct annual evaluations determining diplomat promotions and reassignments.

The agency postponed its promotion boards last month and canceled previously selected members. StateChat will now perform “unbiased selection” based on employees’ skill codes and grades, reported Reuters. The AI-selected list undergoes additional screening for disciplinary and security issues before finalizing panels.

StateChat has operated since last year with approximately 40,000 users across the agency. The system handles note transcription, email drafting, and diplomatic cable analysis. A department spokesperson confirmed the actual evaluations “will not be done by AI.”

Why It Matters: The Trump administration has accelerated AI integration across federal operations since taking office. During his stint with the Trump administration, Elon Musk, through the Department of Government Efficiency, deployed Grok AI chatbot across agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, though ethics experts have raised conflict-of-interest concerns.

Federal spending has increased by $154 billion since Trump’s return to office despite DOGE’s cost-cutting mandate. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has pressed the Pentagon for competitive AI contracting to prevent monopolization. House Republicans have advanced legislation blocking state AI regulation for ten years, though the broader package faces internal opposition.

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