David Sacks concludes AI czar role, moves to lead PCAST

David Sacks has concluded his 130-day tenure as the administration’s AI czar—an informal title for a government official overseeing AI policy—and crypto czar. Sacks, who served as a special government employee, is moving to co-chair the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) alongside Michael Kratsios, the senior White House technology adviser and PCAST co-chair. Sacks spoke with Bloomberg on Thursday to confirm the transition.

The transition moves Sacks further from direct policy-making power in Washington. While Sacks previously held a direct line to the White House, PCAST is a federal advisory body that does not make policy. However, Sacks noted that this iteration of the council has the most star power of any similar group ever assembled. The initial 15 members of PCAST include industry figures such as Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Marc Andreessen, AMD’s Lisa Su, and Michael Dell.

“I think moving forward as co-chair of PCAST, I can now make recommendations on not just AI but an expanded range of technology topics,” said David Sacks, a longtime entrepreneur, investor, and podcaster.

Sacks intends to use the council to address regulation in the U.S. Sacks noted that 50 different states are regulating the technology in 50 different ways, creating a patchwork of regulation that is difficult for innovators to comply with. Sacks intends to focus near-term attention on pushing the national AI framework released last week. However, his government service has faced scrutiny. His departure comes amid attention on the ethics waivers Sacks obtained to maintain financial stakes in AI and crypto companies while shaping federal policy in both areas — an arrangement that drew sharp criticism from ethics experts and lawmakers.

Historically, PCAST’s influence has varied by administration. President Obama’s council produced 36 reports over eight years, with two leading to concrete policy changes. In contrast, President Trump’s first-term council took nearly three years just to name its members. The current iteration is built from the executive suites of technology companies.

Sacks also addressed recent controversy regarding comments he made earlier this month on the “All In” podcast. During the episode, Sacks shared his views on the U.S.-backed war with Iran, which has been going on for approximately 27 days, involving Israel and the U.S. Sacks clarified on Thursday that his podcast comments represented his personal views, not official ones. Sacks stated that he is not on the foreign policy or national security teams, distancing his commentary from official administration policy.

Why it matters

Sacks is moving from a direct policy-shaping role as AI czar to an advisory role on PCAST, signaling a shift in his influence within the Trump administration. While the advisory council boasts significant corporate star power, it lacks direct policy-making authority, placing Sacks further from the central levers of federal regulatory power.