NASA Employees Now Subject To Random Searches As Agency Becomes AI-Fueled Police Mini-State

NASA announced earlier this week that it will start randomly searching employees and their vehicles. While the space agency stated that it’s to ensure workplace safety, the measure seems to be out of fear that employees could engage in corporate espionage to secure new jobs before they’re laid off. NASA is expected to reduce its headcount by 5,000 people after the Trump administration cut the agency’s 2026 budget by 23%. The physical searches will supplement management’s AI-powered digital surveillance of NASA’s workforce.

The searches began on Wednesday, the same day that the memo was sent out, at NASA facilities including its headquarters in Washington, D.C. I wouldn’t feel safer seeing that email hit my inbox. I’d be absolutely terrified. Keith Cowing, a former NASA astrobiologist, shared the internal memo about the invasive policy change on his blog, NASA Watch. The memo stated:

“To ensure the continued safety of our workforce and compliance with security measures, the NASA Headquarters Protective Services Office will be reinstating random searches and inspections of individuals, belongings, and vehicles entering or exiting the premises in accordance with 14 CFR 1204.1003.”

NASA employees aren’t free from the prying eyes of management outside of work hours either. According to Futurism, the space agency acquired a one-year license to use Clearview AI, a digital surveillance system. Clearview can effectively scrape Google and Facebook to compile your entire online presence to send to your superiors. Considering that the White House axed a nomination for NASA Administrator because he was more loyal to Elon Musk than President Donald Trump, I don’t think Clearview is solely being used to protect classified NASA knowledge.

NASA employees sent a public letter to interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy to formally oppose the agency’s dismantling. The letter was signed by 287 current or former agency employees. The letter’s signatories feared retaliation to the point where they were holding meetings in restrooms to avoid management uncovering their protest plans. People dream about working at NASA. However, the starfaring dream is quickly becoming a nightmare.