Jay Clayton named AI czar to lead White House superintelligence task force

Clayton to lead AI task force

Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton has been selected to lead the Trump administration's response to artificial intelligence, The Wall Street Journal reported. Clayton will head a White House task force called the "Super Intelligence Force," or SI, a term President Donald Trump prefers over AI.

The group will have 120 days to research and report on AI's risks and opportunities. It will also recommend what responsibilities the federal government should have regarding the technology. Clayton said the president wanted the United States to remain a leader in superintelligence and place the interests of the American people first.

AI policy and industry pressure

Trump announced in September that he would create an "AI Force" to help facilitate the industry and root out bad actors. He said the government would not hinder or stifle the industry's growth but would help and watch over it. The same post proposed hiring an AI czar and suggested that AI fears were a hoax.

The announcement comes as AI industry leaders call for slower development in response to high-profile rogue AI agent hacks and concerns about how quickly the technology is improving. It also follows a White House meeting with Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, where AI developers backed voluntary safety standards that Trump described as "morally binding."

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have called for federal guardrails on frontier AI models. Trump has so far opposed regulation.

Clayton's government roles

Clayton is a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. The Senate confirmed him in July as director of national intelligence, giving him authority over 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.

David Sacks previously served as AI and crypto czar under Trump before ending his tenure as a special government employee in March. He is now co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Sources: Straitstimes