(AFP) – President Donald Trump is expected to name Jay Clayton, the US director of national intelligence, as the White House’s new AI czar, CNN and other US media reported Friday. CBS News reported a day earlier that Clayton was the likely pick and that the administration had discussed keeping him in his intelligence post, with Trump expected to make a final decision shortly. A White House official told CBS that any personnel announcement would come directly from the president, dismissing the reports as speculation.
Clayton would become the second person to hold the informal title after venture capitalist David Sacks, who held the role at the start of Trump’s second term before stepping down. Sacks continues to advise the president on AI, as does Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Trump said last month he would create an “AI Force” modeled on the Space Force he established during his first term, and name a czar to coordinate federal AI efforts. “Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
A longtime Wall Street lawyer, Clayton represented Goldman Sachs during the 2008 financial crisis and Barclays in its purchase of Lehman Brothers’ assets. He chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term, where he largely took a pro-business stance but brought enforcement cases against the nascent crypto industry. Crypto entrepreneurs have since become major Trump backers. Trump tapped Clayton to lead federal prosecutors in Manhattan at the start of his second term, and the Senate confirmed him as intelligence chief in July. He has no background in the tech industry.
The appointment would come as AI researchers warn of the technology’s potential dangers, following cases of AI systems going rogue and hacking outside systems. Trump has resisted tighter AI regulation, arguing a slowdown could hand Chinese firms an advantage and that federal law enforcement can deal with bad actors misusing the technology. Tech bosses at a White House meeting this week signed a commitment to self-police AI, an accord Trump described as “morally binding.”
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