White House weighs voluntary self-regulation against calls for stronger action
President Trump is expected to name Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton as the new White House artificial-intelligence czar, according to people familiar with the decision, in a move that would fold AI policy coordination under the nation’s top intelligence official.
The decision is not final, the people said, and no official announcement has been made. After attending a White House meeting with AI industry leaders on Tuesday, Trump was asked by a reporter whether Clayton was under consideration for the role. He responded that Clayton is a “good man” and a “good idea.” Trump said on Tuesday that before announcing a decision he wants input from tech companies, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.). A White House official said the president makes personnel announcements directly and until then reports are speculation. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to a request for comment.
The czar role has been vacant since venture capitalist David Sacks left earlier this year to become co-chair of a White House technology advisory group. Sacks remains a top AI adviser to the president and has championed a strategy of minimal regulation to stay ahead of China in the AI race and buoy the economy. That approach has been challenged by a wave of AI-enabled hacks and warnings from industry researchers that the technology could wipe out civilization, concerns Trump has dismissed as “a hoax.”
The White House has not specified what Clayton would do in the new role beyond coordinating AI policy across agencies. Industry chief executives have told the administration that having a point person would help clarify White House policies, the people familiar said.
At his July Senate confirmation hearing, Clayton described AI as an essential opportunity and a serious threat for the intelligence community. A former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission during the first Trump administration, Clayton told the Journal recently that tech CEOs recognized the security concerns posed by AI at the recent White House lunch. He said on CNBC that coordinating policy in the space would be an extension of his current role because of the increasing security threats posed by AI. “This is very much a part of I would say the same portfolio, which is protecting the American people,” Clayton said.
The expected appointment comes as the White House navigates an internal split over how to address AI’s security risks and declining public standing. Chief of staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have pushed for more government action to address potential cyberattacks and biological-weapons risks enabled by AI advances, as well as the technology’s unpopularity, a divide that has at times hampered policymaking. Polling cited by the Journal found AI data centers more unpopular with Americans than nuclear power plants and the Iran war.
At Tuesday’s White House meeting — attended by OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — AI chief executives committed to a series of principles including internal controls to monitor model development, third-party external reviews, and notifications to corporate boards about safety efforts. Trump and Vice President JD Vance characterized the voluntary pledges as the right approach. Skeptics have argued that self-regulation is not adequate, noting that recent AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic and other companies have shown they are improving at potentially alarming rates.
Trump last month signed an executive order renaming artificial intelligence “superintelligence,” a move he framed as addressing what he called the technology’s “PR problem.” CBS News earlier reported the potential appointment.