A 19-year-old acolyte of Elon Musk known online as “Big Balls” is listed as having taken on a new role at the State Department, raising concerns among some diplomats about his potential access to sensitive information and the growing reach of his tech billionaire boss into America’s diplomatic apparatus, said U.S. officials familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.
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Edward Coristine, who briefly worked for Musk’s brain-chip start-up Neuralink, is posted as a senior adviser to the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, a critical hub for data — both sensitive and nonsensitive, officials said. Coristine, who also holds positions at the U.S. DOGE Service and the Office of Personnel Management, has attracted significant attention across Washington for his edgy online persona and the relative lack of experience he brings to his new federal roles.
But his new position could give him visibility into far more than just tech.
Some U.S. officials expressed alarm about Coristine’s new perch at the bureau, which serves as the IT department for Washington’s diplomatic apparatus. All of the department’s IT and data management functions were centralized at the bureau during an overhaul before President Donald Trump returned to office, making it a treasure trove of information.
“This is dangerous,” said one of the U.S. officials, noting Coristine’s youth and a report by Bloomberg that he was fired for leaking a data security firm’s information to a competitor.
Officials worried that his position might give him a foothold for obtaining unauthorized access to classified material and obtain compromising information on other countries and foreign activities.
In addition to Coristine, a 23-year-old colleague of his, former SpaceX intern Luke Farritor, is also listed in the State Department’s directory as working at the Bureau of Diplomatic Technology.
Coristine and Farritor are among a group of six engineers 25 or younger whom The Washington Post has identified as working on behalf of DOGE.
Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for DOGE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the State Department, Coristine or Farritor.
Another person who knows one of the DOGE engineers personally, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect that relationship, said that while the engineers’ technical ability was not in question, the amount of power the DOGE team has amassed in a short span was a concern.
“It’s not like they have a history of informed political opinion,” the person said. “They’re just in it for solving hard problems: It’s like, ‘Oh, a big challenge, it’s a big puzzle.’ I’m sure he just grew up solving puzzles and doing hard problems, and this is just another one and also has the perk of being around the president and billionaires.
“That is such a narrow view of the world,” the person said of the engineer’s tech background. “It’s not at all appropriate, I don’t think, for something with such a broad impact.”
Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox every weekend.
Edward Coristine, who briefly worked for Musk’s brain-chip start-up Neuralink, is posted as a senior adviser to the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, a critical hub for data — both sensitive and nonsensitive, officials said. Coristine, who also holds positions at the U.S. DOGE Service and the Office of Personnel Management, has attracted significant attention across Washington for his edgy online persona and the relative lack of experience he brings to his new federal roles.
But his new position could give him visibility into far more than just tech.
Some U.S. officials expressed alarm about Coristine’s new perch at the bureau, which serves as the IT department for Washington’s diplomatic apparatus. All of the department’s IT and data management functions were centralized at the bureau during an overhaul before President Donald Trump returned to office, making it a treasure trove of information.
“This is dangerous,” said one of the U.S. officials, noting Coristine’s youth and a report by Bloomberg that he was fired for leaking a data security firm’s information to a competitor.
Officials worried that his position might give him a foothold for obtaining unauthorized access to classified material and obtain compromising information on other countries and foreign activities.
In addition to Coristine, a 23-year-old colleague of his, former SpaceX intern Luke Farritor, is also listed in the State Department’s directory as working at the Bureau of Diplomatic Technology.
Coristine and Farritor are among a group of six engineers 25 or younger whom The Washington Post has identified as working on behalf of DOGE.
Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for DOGE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the State Department, Coristine or Farritor.
Another person who knows one of the DOGE engineers personally, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect that relationship, said that while the engineers’ technical ability was not in question, the amount of power the DOGE team has amassed in a short span was a concern.
“It’s not like they have a history of informed political opinion,” the person said. “They’re just in it for solving hard problems: It’s like, ‘Oh, a big challenge, it’s a big puzzle.’ I’m sure he just grew up solving puzzles and doing hard problems, and this is just another one and also has the perk of being around the president and billionaires.
“That is such a narrow view of the world,” the person said of the engineer’s tech background. “It’s not at all appropriate, I don’t think, for something with such a broad impact.”
