Trump announces AI czar and task force to lead national AI development

President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he will appoint a czar to take point on artificial intelligence and will also create an AI task force. The announcement was made via a social media post on Truth Social, where Trump said he would not let the “decimation” of AI happen and that the new czar would be open to “high IQ individuals.”

Trump added that he would not name an appointee in the post, but he called Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang while Huang was onstage at an industry summit to talk about the issue. The White House did not immediately provide more details on the new initiative, but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been discussing the issue amid renewed warnings.

During a closed-door briefing this week, Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton warned lawmakers that time was running out to regulate the industry, telling them Congress has “maybe a year” to get the job done. Trump previously had an AI and cryptocurrency czar, David Sacks, who stepped down earlier this year due to limits on his term as a special government employee. Democrats widely seen as 2028 presidential hopefuls have made moves to regulate AI at the state level, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger launching AI task forces and data center accountability plans.

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