AI is becoming politicized as a tool of power—what we might call “AI‑cracy”

Here’s a deep dive into the growing risk that AI is becoming politicized as a tool of power—what we might call “AI‑cracy”—within the framework of Project 2025 and the current administration’s actions:

1. Project 2025 & Centralization of Power

• The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 calls for sweeping expansion of executive authority, dismantling independent agencies and reassigning their leadership to ideologically vetted appointees, aligned with Trump loyalists and funded by allies like Vought and Musk-associated networks SvD.se+4YouTube+4Apple Podcasts+4Center for American Progress+2Wikipedia+2Wikipedia+2.

• AI is seen as a force-multiplier—capable of automating ideological enforcement and surveillance, aligning with Project 2025’s vision of consolidating control over federal institutions Carnegie EndowmentWikipedia.

2. Government Mandate: “No Woke AI”

• On July 23, 2025, Trump signed an executive order under his AI Action Plan requiring federal agencies to procure only AI systems devoid of DEI, CRT, systemic racism concepts—deemed as “woke bias” Axios+11The White House+11The Washington Post+11.

• Critics warn this amounts to ideological litmus test on AI providers like Google, Microsoft, OpenAI—forcing censorship or retraining chatbots to pass political acceptability for government contracts AP News.

3. DOGE, Musk & the AI-Enabled Bureaucratic Overhaul

• The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tied to Elon Musk associates and Project 2025 circles, has deployed AI tools to eliminate federal regulations—over a thousand at HUD alone—using automated systems trained to identify and delete “nonessential” rules Carnegie Endowment+2The Daily Beast+2Wikipedia+2.

• DOGE also had sweeping access to citizen and government databases, using AI to flag and purge contracts or employees deemed ideologically undesirable. This mirrors Project 2025 goals of bureaucratic neutralizationWikipediaCarnegie Endowment.

⚠️ 4. AI as Political Influence—From Deepfake to Microtargeting

• AI-generated content—AI‑slop, deepfakes, bot farms—is routinely used in election campaigns, amplifying polarizing or fabricated narratives at scale. These techniques leverage computational propaganda tools to manipulate emotions and perceptions Wikipedia.

• Under AI‑cracy logic, these tools are not just for campaigns but institutionalized: government agencies can deploy AI messaging systems calibrated to reinforce selected narratives or silence dissent.

5. Democratic Risk—Erosion of Accountability & Transparency

• AI systems favored by the administration are described as “black boxes”—opaque, unpredictable, and often shaped by dominant ideological interests, not neutral logic. Attempts to legislate “neutrality” may suppress certain viewpoints while empowering others, undermining First Amendment and democratic integrity New York Post.

• The combination of centralized executive control over agencies (Project 2025), AI-powered deregulation (DOGE), and ideological control over AI procurement sets up a system where dissent, diversity, and accountability become liabilities—not values. AI becomes not a tool for society, but a tool of political enforcement.

Summary Table

Final Thoughts

The administration’s AI strategy is not simply about competing with China, deregulation, or innovation for its own sake—it is explicitly about shaping AI as an ideological instrument, not a neutral infrastructure. Under Project 2025, AI may become a core pillar of executive-driven governance: one that surveils, silences, and controls based on curated bias.

Without robust oversight, judicial enforcement, transparency mandates, or civil society counterweight—AI promises could morph into authoritarian leverage. That’s the heart of the danger of “AI‑cracy.”

If democratic norms and safeguards fail to check this trajectory, we may soon see technology govern not for public trust, but for political control.