President Donald Trump has named Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton as the White House AI czar, putting the country’s top spy chief in charge of a new Super Intelligence Force that will coordinate the federal government’s approach to artificial intelligence.
Trump announced the move Sunday, October 4, in a Truth Social post, saying Clayton will lead the force to “ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence.” Clayton keeps his intelligence director role while taking on the AI portfolio.
The force is tasked with coordinating federal engagement with consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, critical infrastructure providers, and AI companies. According to its charter, it will develop plans to handle AI-enabled threats, streamline breach notifications, and improve government response capacity while aiming to avoid overregulation. It has 120 days to deliver a report on AI risks and opportunities.
Three vice chairs will serve under Clayton: Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson. Members include Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, with venture capitalist David Sacks and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice advising from outside government.
“The risk of not being first is high,” Clayton told the Wall Street Journal. “Not being first increases the identified, and unidentified, risks, particularly from our adversaries.”
Before leading national intelligence, Clayton served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The announcement follows a busy week for federal AI policy. On September 29, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “artificial intelligence” in official communications. The next day, the FTC confirmed it had opened an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI companies over potential consumer harms.
Sources: NPR, “Trump names national intelligence chief Jay Clayton as new AI czar,” October 4, 2026; Nextgov, “Spy chief Jay Clayton takes on White House’s AI portfolio,” October 2026; The Wall Street Journal, interview with Jay Clayton, October 2026.
