Trump is expected to name intelligence director Jay Clayton as AI czar

President Trump is expected to name Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton as the White House’s artificial intelligence czar, according to a source familiar with the matter. The president teased the move this week and will most likely announce it on social media as early as Friday, the source said. It comes after a lengthy meeting with executives of leading technology companies at the White House on Tuesday, which Clayton attended. Clayton, who oversees the nation’s spy agencies as the director of national intelligence, would take on the AI responsibility alongside his current role. When reached for a comment about the forthcoming announcement, a White House official said, “Any personnel announcement will be announced directly by the President. Any reporting until then is baseless speculation.” In a CNBC interview Wednesday the White House AI meeting, Clayton said the Trump administration would be taking a “whole-of-government approach” to regulating the technology. “Superintelligence is a national security issue,” Clayton said, using the term the Trump administration has formally adopted to refer to AI. “That was something that was recognized yesterday by not just the industry leaders, but everybody in the room.” David Sacks, who now serves as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, had served as special adviser for AI and Crypto from January 2025 through March of this year. Trump’s selection of Clayton comes after a groundswell of concern about the consequences associated with AI development following warnings by employees at some of the top AI companies about the technology putting humanity at risk. Trump has largely brushed off these threats, including after his meeting with AI giants, pushing back on calls to implement stronger safety regulations. “I think I’m seeing tremendous self-policing, and they understand that they have to self-police, and it’s very hard for somebody to come outside, get into these. These models are very complex, and again, I believe they’re going to be used for the good,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “And when they’re not, we’re going to be able to nab them. But there’s going to be a tremendous self-policing aspect.” Before he took over the DNI role in August following Senate confirmation, Clayton was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He was chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term and previously a partner at top law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.