Marko Elez<\/strong>, a 25-year-old employee at Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency<\/strong> (DOGE), has been granted access to sensitive databases at the U.S. Social Security Administration, the Treasury and Justice departments, and the Department of Homeland Security. So it should fill all Americans with a deep sense of confidence to learn that Mr. Elez over the weekend inadvertently published a private key that allowed anyone to interact directly with more than four dozen large language models (LLMs) developed by Musk\u2019s artificial intelligence company xAI<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Image: Shutterstock, @sdx15.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On July 13, Mr. Elez committed a code script to GitHub called \u201cagent.py\u201d that included a private application programming interface (API) key for xAI. The inclusion of the private key was first flagged by GitGuardian<\/strong>, a company that specializes in detecting and remediating exposed secrets in public and proprietary environments. GitGuardian\u2019s systems constantly scan GitHub and other code repositories for exposed API keys, and fire off automated alerts to affected users.<\/p>\n Philippe Caturegli<\/strong>, \u201cchief hacking officer\u201d at the security consultancy Seralys,\u00a0<\/strong>said the exposed API key allowed access to at least 52 different LLMs used by xAI. The most recent LLM in the list was called \u201cgrok-4-0709\u201d and was created on July 9, 2025.<\/p>\n Grok<\/strong>, the generative AI chatbot<\/a> developed by xAI and integrated into Twitter\/X<\/strong>, relies on these and other LLMs (a query to Grok before publication shows Grok currently uses Grok-3, which was launched in Feburary 2025). Earlier today, xAI announced<\/a> that the Department of Defense will begin using Grok as part of a contract worth up to $200 million<\/a>. The contract award came less than a week after Grok began spewing antisemitic rants and invoking Adolf Hitler<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Elez did not respond to a request for comment. The code repository containing the private xAI key was removed shortly after Caturegli notified Elez via email. However, Caturegli said the exposed API key still works and has not yet been revoked.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a developer can\u2019t keep an API key private, it raises questions about how they\u2019re handling far more sensitive government information behind closed doors,\u201d Caturegli told KrebsOnSecurity.<\/p>\n Prior to joining DOGE, Marko Elez<\/a> worked for a number of Musk\u2019s companies. His DOGE career began at the Department of the Treasury, and a legal battle over DOGE\u2019s access to Treasury databases showed Elez was sending unencrypted personal information in violation of the agency\u2019s policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n While still at Treasury, Elez resigned after The Wall Street Journal<\/strong> linked him to social media posts<\/a> that advocated racism and eugenics. When Vice President J.D. Vance<\/strong> lobbied for Elez to be rehired, President Trump<\/strong> agreed and Musk reinstated him.<\/p>\n Since his re-hiring as a DOGE employee, Elez has been granted access to databases at one federal agency after another. TechCrunch<\/strong> reported in February 2025<\/a> that he was working at the Social Security Administration. In March, Business Insider<\/strong> found<\/a> Elez was part of a DOGE detachment assigned to the Department of Labor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Marko Elez, in a photo from a social media profile.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In April, The New York Times<\/strong> reported<\/a> that Elez held positions at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection<\/strong> and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/strong> (ICE) bureaus, as well as the Department of Homeland Security. The Washington Post<\/strong> later reported<\/a> that Elez, while serving as a DOGE advisor at the Department of Justice<\/strong>, had gained access to the Executive Office for Immigration Review\u2019s Courts and Appeals System (EACS).<\/p>\n Elez is not the first DOGE worker to publish internal API keys for xAI: In May, KrebsOnSecurity detailed<\/a> how another DOGE employee leaked a private xAI key on GitHub for two months, exposing LLMs that were custom made for working with internal data from Musk\u2019s companies, including SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter\/X.<\/p>\n Caturegli said it\u2019s difficult to trust someone with access to confidential government systems when they can\u2019t even manage the basics of operational security.<\/p>\n \u201cOne leak is a mistake,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when the same type of sensitive key gets exposed again and again, it\u2019s not just bad luck, it\u2019s a sign of deeper negligence and a broken security culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/krebsonsecurity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/x-ai.png?resize=746%2C496&ssl=1\")
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