WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department

will use an artificial intelligence chatbot to help it select

the people who will perform annual reviews of promotions and

moves, according to a cable issued Monday and reviewed by

Reuters.

The cable said that StateChat, an in-house chatbot which

works using technology from Palantir ( PLTR ) and Microsoft, will be

employed to pick foreign service officers for participation on

the Foreign Service Selection Boards, the annual evaluation

panels which decide whether and how to promote and shuffle

around State Department employees.

In a statement, a department spokesperson said the

evaluations themselves "will not be done by AI."

The boards, whose role is governed by the 1980 Foreign

Service Act, play a critical role in the State Department's

personnel promotion decisions, managing the annual process by

which diplomats and others jump from one professional grade to

the next. By statute, the boards are meant to include "a

substantial number of women and members of minority groups."

The State Department has been using StateChat since last year to

transcribe notes, draft emails, and analyze diplomatic cables.

Last week the agency's acting chief data and AI officer, Amy

Ritualo, told a Palantir ( PLTR ) conference that StateChat had about

40,000 users across her agency. The program's role in the human

resources process, however, has not previously been disclosed.

Last month the State Department abruptly postponed the

boards, and previously selected members received emails saying

their services were no longer required.

Monday's cable said that StateChat's technology would

instead be used to "perform unbiased selection" for the boards

based on employees' internally adjudicated skill codes and

grades. That list would then be screened - for example for

disciplinary and security issues - before being used to create

the panels. There was no mention of female or minority

representation.

President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly

attacked what Republicans refer to as "DEI," a catch-all term

covering work protecting civil rights, fighting discrimination,

and boosting diversity.

The American Foreign Service Association, which represents

State Department employees, did not directly comment on the use

of AI but said it was seeking clarification from agency

leadership about how it intends to comply with its legal

obligations around women and minority group representation.

Palantir ( PLTR ) and Microsoft didn't immediately return messages.

Although the deployment of AI by officials precedes Trump's

reelection in 2024, his administration has aggressively expanded

its use since his return to power. Last month Reuters reported

that tech tycoon Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service was expanding its

use of the AI chatbot Grok across the U.S. federal government.

In April, Reuters reported that Trump administration officials

had told some U.S. government employees that DOGE was using AI

to monitor at least one federal agency's communications for

hostility to the president.