President Trump Expected to Appoint US Intelligence Chief Jay Clayton as New AI Czar

President Donald Trump is reportedly poised to appoint Jay Clayton, the current United States Director of National Intelligence, as the nation’s new artificial intelligence czar, according to media reports citing unidentified sources familiar with the discussions. The anticipated move comes as the administration seeks to solidify its oversight framework for the fast-evolving technology sector while attempting to balance rapid innovation with national security concerns.

The prospective appointment follows a series of policy initiatives and public announcements from the White House regarding artificial intelligence governance. Cointelegraph previously reported on Sept. 20 that President Trump planned to establish an "AI Force," an initiative explicitly modeled after the United States Space Force. According to announcements shared by the president on Truth Social, the newly envisioned project is designed to manage and support the rapidly growing artificial intelligence sector without introducing heavy-handed regulatory burdens that could potentially stifle domestic technological innovation.

These administrative actions unfold against a backdrop of intensifying public warnings and industry debates surrounding the safety, pace, and potential systemic risks of advanced artificial intelligence systems. Industry leaders and technology executives have increasingly voiced concerns over how quickly frontier AI models are advancing and whether current safeguards are sufficient to manage them.

Earlier in September, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei authored a comprehensive three-step proposal urging the technology industry to voluntarily adopt a more measured and safer pace for artificial intelligence development. Amodei warned that if left entirely unchecked, the rapid scaling of these powerful systems might eventually outrun human capabilities to fully understand and control them.

In a subsequent development, Anthropic announced that it had selected consulting and professional services firm Accenture to act as an embedded evaluator, a move designed to help moderate the pace of AI development and operationalize the first phase outlined in Amodei’s strategic proposal.

The debate over Amodei’s pacing proposal drew varied reactions across the technology sector. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded positively to the recommendations, signaling a willingness to engage with safety-focused development pacing. However, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang expressed a different perspective, arguing publicly that such self-imposed slowdowns or additional regulatory frameworks were unnecessary for the industry’s continued healthy growth.

The policy discussion culminated on Tuesday, when President Trump convened a high-profile gathering of leading artificial intelligence and technology executives at the White House. During the meeting, tech chiefs signed a formal commitment pledging to "self-police" their respective companies’ frontier AI models and ongoing development processes, aiming to establish industry-led accountability rather than federal mandates.

Clayton Led SEC During Trump’s First Term

While media outlets, including CNN, have identified Jay Clayton as the frontrunner for the influential AI czar position based on confidential sources, the official stance from the administration remains guarded. CBS News was first to break the story regarding Clayton’s likelihood of stepping into the role, though a White House official subsequently told the network that any formal personnel announcements would come directly from the president, characterizing the early reports as speculation.

Clayton brings a substantial regulatory and legal background to the discussion. He previously led the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during President Trump’s first term in office and also served a stint as the interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. According to the sources cited by CNN, Clayton is expected to retain his primary responsibilities as the Director of National Intelligence while taking on the additional duties associated with the artificial intelligence portfolio.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Clayton to lead the country’s intelligence community in July. During his confirmation hearing before lawmakers, Clayton was directly questioned about the implications of artificial intelligence. He described the technology as a definitive "game changer," emphasizing to the Senate that artificial intelligence represents "not only an opportunity but a threat."

Clayton’s prospective entry into the artificial intelligence coordination role marks the latest chapter in the White House’s evolving approach to tech policy oversight. The position of technology czar previously gained prominent attention when venture capitalist David Sacks assumed the role of a special White House official for crypto and artificial intelligence.

Cointelegraph reported in March that Sacks had formally concluded a 130-day tenure in the administration. Under federal regulations governing special government employees, individuals appointed under such provisions are strictly limited to a maximum of 130 days of service within any 12-month period.

Reflecting on the conclusion of his formal appointment, Sacks told Bloomberg in March that the administration had fully utilized the allotted timeframe. He noted at the time that he would nevertheless continue offering policy recommendations across a diverse array of technology industries through his ongoing capacity as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.