President-elect Donald Trump has announced the creation of a new White House position dedicated to shaping policy in the rapidly evolving fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency.
Tech entrepreneur and investor David O. Sacks has been appointed to this role, which Trump calls the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.”
In his announcement, Trump emphasized the critical importance of AI and cryptocurrency for America’s future competitiveness on the global stage.
“I am pleased to announce that David O. Sacks will be the ‘White House A.I. & Crypto Czar,'” Trump stated. “In this important role, David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency—two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness. David will focus on making America the clear global leader in both areas.”
According to Trump, Sacks will have a broad mandate, including safeguarding free speech online and addressing concerns about bias and censorship from major technology companies.
He will also work to establish a legal framework to provide clarity for the cryptocurrency industry, enabling it to flourish within the U.S.
Additionally, Sacks will chair the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology, underscoring his role in influencing the administration’s broader technology and innovation strategies.
David Sacks brings extensive experience to his new position. As a founding-era COO of PayPal, Sacks played a key role in building the digital payments platform, earning him a place in the so-called “PayPal Mafia”—a group of tech pioneers who have gone on to create and invest in iconic Silicon Valley companies.
Sacks later founded Yammer, an enterprise software company that Microsoft acquired for $1.2 billion. He then established Craft Ventures, a leading venture capital firm based in San Francisco.
Sacks is also a co-host of the All-In Podcast, a highly influential show in the tech world that discusses economic, political, and social issues.
“David has the knowledge, business experience, intelligence, and pragmatism to MAKE AMERICA GREAT in these two critical technologies,” Trump said, congratulating Sacks on his new role.
Sacks publicly aligned himself with Trump in June, hosting a Silicon Valley fundraiser and citing his reasons for supporting the president-elect. These included economic growth, foreign policy, border security, and opposition to political weaponization of the justice system.
At the time, Sacks criticized the Biden administration for what he described as authoritarian tactics, including censorship, intelligence community interference, and politically motivated prosecutions.
“President Biden keeps insisting that a return of President Trump to the White House threatens democracy. But his administration is the one that has colluded with tech platforms to censor the Internet, used the intelligence community to cover up his son Hunter’s laptop, and pursued elective prosecutions against his political opponents,” Sacks said during his public endorsement.
With Sacks at the helm of AI and cryptocurrency policy, the Trump administration signals its intention to prioritize technological leadership, support innovation, and tackle issues of free speech and regulation in the digital space.
This appointment underscores Trump’s focus on leveraging private-sector expertise to guide his administration’s approach to some of the most transformative technologies shaping the 21st century.