Trump's 27,000-Site AI Overhaul Stalls as Agency Cuts Fuel Backlash
Updated
Updated · Ars Technica · Jun 30
Trump's 27,000-Site AI Overhaul Stalls as Agency Cuts Fuel Backlash
1 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Jun 30
Summary
A year into the National Design Studio, Trump’s three-year push to remake 27,000 .gov websites with AI has produced few launches and growing resistance from agencies.
Deep cuts to the teams that previously handled federal web modernization undercut the effort: 18F was dismantled, the US Digital Service was reshaped into DOGE, and the USWDS team was cut to one full-time employee.
Design experts say the project leans too heavily on AI and has not adequately tested sites for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, prompting scrutiny over what critics call “AI-designed horrors.”
Only 30% of government websites used USWDS standards by mid-2023, underscoring how hard adoption already was before NDS tried to impose a faster overhaul with a smaller team.
As AI fails to guarantee digital accessibility, how will the government meet its fast-approaching disability compliance deadlines for thousands of websites?
Can a secretive studio succeed in overhauling government websites after experienced federal tech teams were dismantled?
How is sensitive citizen data from duplicate government websites being protected from misuse by a studio that bypasses normal oversight?