Trump Appoints Intelligence Chief as AI Czar, Sets 120-Day Deadline for Policy

U.S. President Donald Trump has appointed Jay Clayton, the Director of National Intelligence, to lead a new body tasked with consolidating the administration's artificial intelligence policy. This group, named the "Superintelligence Task Force" using Trump's preferred term over AI, has been given 120 days to submit a report detailing the risks and opportunities of AI technology, along with recommendations for the federal government's role in the sector. Clayton brings significant experience, having previously chaired the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2017 to 2020, served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and was confirmed as Director of National Intelligence last summer, overseeing 18 intelligence agencies.

Clayton becomes the second AI "czar" under the current administration. The first, venture capitalist David Sachs, concluded his term in March and will now advise the task force externally, alongside former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Three deputies will serve with Clayton: Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); Scott Cooper, Head of the Federal Personnel Commission; and Emil Michael, the Pentagon's Chief Technology Officer. Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Busant will also be members of the task force, which reports directly to the President and his Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles.

The FTC, led by Ferguson, is the primary regulator examining tech industry deals and competition, having pursued antitrust cases against Meta and Amazon. In 2024, it also launched investigations into investments by Microsoft, Amazon, and Google in AI model companies OpenAI and Anthropic, questioning whether these partnerships stifle competition. The new task force's mandate is to formulate responses to potential AI threats while avoiding over-regulation and preventing dominant players from hindering competition.

This appointment follows a voluntary AI safety pledge signed by tech industry leaders, including Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Sundar Pichai of Google, Elon Musk, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, and Greg Brockman of OpenAI, with President Trump at the White House just a week prior. These companies committed to internal and external audits and reporting findings to their boards. Trump described the pledge as morally binding, though it lacks legal enforcement mechanisms. During that meeting, Trump also promised to appoint an AI czar within days.

Previously, the administration had opposed federal regulation on end-user AI models, even as industry figures like Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called for safety guardrails. Trump had stated the administration would foster and oversee the industry without impeding its growth, a stance contrasting sharply with the European Union's AI Act, which is gradually taking effect and influencing companies' development and launch decisions. The market is closely watching Washington's statements on oversight, especially given the massive, hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars annual investments by tech giants in data centers. Israeli investors are significantly exposed to these companies through index-tracking funds.

The 120-day period for the task force will conclude in early February 2027. The resulting report, to be submitted to the President and Wiles, will be the administration's first document outlining regulatory tools for an industry that has largely operated under self-imposed rules.