Trump Is Expected to Name Jay Clayton AI Czar, Bloomberg Says

President Donald Trump is expected to choose his intelligence chief, Jay Clayton, as the next White House AI czar, Bloomberg reported on October 2. The prospective appointment would put the official overseeing the nation’s intelligence agencies into a role focused on advancing AI development. No formal appointment had been announced when Bloomberg’s article was published.

Bloomberg reporters Jeff Mason and Michael Shepard cited a person familiar with the matter who spoke anonymously before a formal announcement. That person said Trump might reveal the appointment as soon as October 2. The New York Times and other news organizations had previously identified Clayton as Trump’s top choice.

One candidate, potentially two jobs

Clayton has served as director of national intelligence since July, following Senate confirmation. He now oversees the country’s sprawling intelligence bureaucracy. Before taking that position, he served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, handling high-profile cases for the administration. Bloomberg also described him as a golf companion of Trump.

Whether Clayton would retain his intelligence position while taking on the AI assignment remains unclear. Holding two senior roles would not be without precedent in this administration: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is among the officials juggling more than one key job. But Clayton’s own arrangement has not been settled publicly.

The position Clayton would inherit was previously held by venture capitalist David Sacks, Trump’s first AI czar. Sacks has remained in contact with the president since leaving government and has continued to argue that AI development should stay largely free of regulation so that innovation can flourish.

A development brief under a self-policing policy

Trump announced his intention to appoint a new AI adviser last month as public concern about the technology’s risks grew. The expected selection comes days after he hosted nearly two dozen Silicon Valley executives at the White House, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, to discuss safety concerns.

After that meeting, Trump rejected new AI rules and reiterated that the industry should police itself. He also released a one-page pledge signed by leading attendees, including Huang, Amodei, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. His position favors company responsibility rather than additional AI-specific restrictions.

The president has framed continued AI development as both an economic opportunity and a national security priority. He has promoted data-center construction as a source of jobs and domestic investment, while citing competition with China in resisting calls for more oversight. Trump and his allies argue that existing liability laws provide sufficient protection.

That approach faces objections from within the industry. Amodei called for pacing AI development and greater government regulation in a September 12 essay. Sacks criticized that position, arguing that additional rules would make it harder for smaller companies to challenge larger players. The dispute concerns who sets safety requirements, not simply who occupies the White House advisory job.