Trump expected to choose Jay Clayton as AI czar

Appointment under consideration

President Trump is expected to select Jay Clayton as the White House AI czar, while his administration considers keeping Clayton in his current position as director of national intelligence. A final decision has not been announced. (CBS News)

Trump said after a White House meeting with technology executives that he planned to name an AI czar within three or four days. A White House official said personnel decisions would be announced directly by the president and characterized earlier reporting as speculation.

Clayton’s government roles

The Senate confirmed Clayton as director of national intelligence in July. A lawyer, Clayton previously served as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan and chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission for most of Trump’s first term.

Trump announced plans last month to appoint an AI czar. Venture capitalist David Sacks held a cryptocurrency and AI czar role early in Trump’s second term. Sacks later stepped down but continued to co-chair the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

AI policy debate

Leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Nvidia and Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI met at the White House on Tuesday. They committed to voluntary internal controls and outside audits intended to check whether their AI models operate as designed.

Trump has argued that tighter regulation could slow U.S. development and give Chinese AI labs an advantage. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have supported managing the pace of advanced AI development to address risks. Sacks and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang have argued that some warnings about AI threats to humanity are overstated.