Trump Aides Researched Whether AI Czar Could Profit
Trump Aides Researched Whether AI Czar Could Profit
The News
White House officials privately researched whether David Sacks, the administration's former AI and crypto czar, could personally profit from blocking certain AI regulations, according to a lengthy Wall Street Journal report published Wednesday and summarized by Mediaite.
The report lands amid a broader push against federal AI rules. The Independent reports that Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang approached President Trump to block new AI regulation, with Huang arguing existing laws are adequate and Musk proposing that rival companies audit each other's models.
Trump has said a "strong and smart" president is the only AI oversight the country needs.
Timeline
Sacks steps down as the administration's AI and crypto czar and joins the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Trump posts on Truth Social that a strong and smart president is the only AI guardrail the country needs. HuffPost reports the same week that AI researchers say the claim misstates how AI and federal oversight actually work.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump officials "privately researched" whether Sacks could personally profit from blocking regulation.
Semafor reports on the administration's pro-AI meme campaign, which casts effective altruists — people focused on reducing harm from the technology — as the enemy. Fortune publishes an argument that Trump is right that a White House-run AI agency cannot work, but that the answer is independent standard-setting.
Reactions
Princeton professor Arvind Narayanan told HuffPost that AI's economic impact depends on a decades-long integration process, not a winner-take-all race between countries.
University of Washington professor Emily M. Bender said the U.S.-China race framing has been used to slow data-center and privacy regulation, and that there is no solid definition of artificial general intelligence.
Writing in Fortune, Stavros Gadinis argues AI labs already run internal safety systems and what they lack is independent standard-setting and auditing — modeled on the accounting industry's FASB, a body the federal government recognizes without controlling.
The Daily Mail is polling its readers on whether they believe Trump is the only guardrail AI needs.
What's Next
The White House has not commented on the Journal's reporting, and it is not clear what action, if any, officials took after researching Sacks.
The unresolved fight is over where AI oversight should sit: with the executive branch, a new federal agency, an industry-run body, or some combination — and whether any of those would be trusted by foreign governments and markets.
More
Where the Split Runs
Musk's proposal would have rival labs audit each other's models. Critics of that approach ask whether an industry-led auditing system creates real accountability or simply lets the labs set their own passing grade.
Huang's position is narrower: that the laws already on the books are sufficient and no new federal AI statute is needed.
Poll
Who should set the rules for AI?
UMass Dartmouth Running Back, 18, Stabbed to Death
Trump Vows 'AI Force,' Czar; Polls Name Change
Sep 20, 2026
Iran Sends Trump Three Conditions to End War
Sep 19, 2026
Faulty AI Intel Nearly Started War With China
Sep 19, 2026
German General Breuer Elected NATO's Top Officer
Sep 19, 2026
Nobel Laureate: War, Sanctions Crushing Iranians
Sep 19, 2026
Dutch Police Disperse Violent Far-Right Hague Protest
Sep 19, 2026
GOP Midterm Odds Fade With 45 Days Left
Sep 19, 2026
Maher Rejects Tarlov's Claim Democrats Are Less Crazy
Sep 19, 2026
Patrick Clancy Breaks Silence After Ex-Wife Killed Kids
Sep 19, 2026
Trump Cuts Park Staff, Diverts Fees to DC
Sep 19, 2026
Holocaust Heirs Sue LA Museums Over Looted Art
Sep 19, 2026
Trump's Fed Chair Hikes Rates, Defying White House
Sep 19, 2026
Miller Drives Push to Deport Illegal Immigrant Children
Sep 19, 2026
US Lifts Sanctions on Eritrea's Military, Ruling Party
Sep 19, 2026
Air Force Admits US Has Space Weapons
Sep 19, 2026
Turkey Revokes License of Iran's Mellat Bank
Sep 19, 2026
Billionaire Ratcliffe Blasts Britain Over Immigration, Taxes
Sep 19, 2026
Navajo Nation Flash Flood Kills Three
Sep 19, 2026
Explosions Over Riyadh Trigger Saudi Air Alerts
Sep 19, 2026
Sep 19, 2026