Tech VC to be Trump’s PCAST Chair, AI and Crypto ‘Czar’

Last week, President-elect Donald Trump picked venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks to lead the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and to fill a new “czar” role dedicated to AI and cryptocurrency policy. Trump’s quick selection of Sacks to lead PCAST is in stark contrast to his first presidential term, when the council was dormant for nearly three years.

Trump has not yet indicated who he will nominate to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, a role that typically serves as chair or co-chair of PCAST, though former OSTP official Michael Kratsios has reportedly interviewed for the role. Sacks’ role is an advisory position that is not subject to Senate confirmation.

Trump issued two executive orders on AI in his first term, one focused on accelerating American leadership and the other promoting the use of trustworthy AI in government. This year, the Republican National Committee adopted Trump’s platform promising to revoke President Joe Biden’s 2023 executive order on trustworthy development and use of AI, saying it “hinders innovation and imposes Radical Leftwing Ideas on the development of this technology.” Instead, the platform pledges to “support AI Development rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.”

This news brief originally appeared in FYI’s newsletter for the week of Dec. 9.