Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban said Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, could radically transform the federal government by making it "AI Native," using artificial intelligence to cut bureaucracy, reduce costs and dramatically improve public services.

Mark Cuban Pushes AI As Government's Next Big Efficiency Tool

In a series of posts on X over the weekend, Cuban argued DOGE should expand beyond targeting fraud, waste and abuse and instead focus on modernizing government operations with AI.

Cuban proposed hiring top engineers and technologists to integrate AI across federal agencies, with goals ranging from speeding up permits and licenses to reducing administrative overhead.

"What if they made it their ‘moon shot' … making the federal government as ‘AI Native' as possible?" Cuban wrote.

He suggested AI could reduce approval timelines, such as permitting and environmental reviews from years to days or weeks while lowering operational expenses.

Cuban Says AI Could Reduce Government Costs And Improve Citizen Services

According to Cuban, AI could help shrink the size of government while simultaneously improving benefits delivery and citizen interactions.

"Every single benefit that AI can provide to private enterprise, it can provide to government," he said.

Cuban argued this approach could cut taxpayer costs, reduce friction in public services and challenge the long-standing perception that government inefficiency is inevitable.

"With AI, the cost of running government can be reduced, the output and productivity can go up, the friction can go down," Cuban said.

AI Tax Debate Expands Into Broader Government Reform Vision

Cuban's comments came while defending his earlier proposal for a federal AI token tax, which drew criticism from tech leaders including Palmer Luckey and Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen.

Claiming a token tax would save AI companies money earns the 2026 Dumbest Economic Thinking award. Impressive work considering the current year's competition. https://t.co/o5QfokE2vA

— Ryan Petersen (@typesfast) May 16, 2026

There are already massive economic incentives to optimize, so this is just a tax on American companies that makes foreign models and products more attractive.

Along with creating the infrastructure for government to track all AI usage and punish anyone who doesn't report.

— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) May 16, 2026

While critics warned against added taxes and regulations, Cuban framed AI as both a future revenue source and a transformative tool for public-sector productivity.

"Capitalism. Make everyone compete," Cuban wrote. "If AI can be used to leverage government scale, why not?"

Here is one to piss you off even more Ryan. What if @elonmusk and @DOGE rather than focusing exclusively on FWA, set their goal to use AI in government as effectively , productively or even better than business can ?

What if they made it their "moon shot" and hired the best… https://t.co/XoEDPwvBJQ

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) May 17, 2026

DOGE Reports $215 Billion In Federal Savings

According to the DOGE website, the agency estimates it has generated $215 billion in savings through measures including asset sales, contract and lease cancellations, fraud reduction, grant cuts, regulatory savings and workforce reductions — amounting to roughly $1,335.40 per federal taxpayer.

Last year, Musk ended his controversial four-month stint leading DOGE, with President Donald Trump marking the occasion by presenting him with a golden key to the White House.

The tech mogul's short time in the role was defined by sweeping federal workforce reductions, the dismantling of USAID and a string of contentious actions, including the widely criticized "fork in the road" resignation emails.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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