Trump picks Silicon Valley venture capitalist for ‘AI and Crypto Tsar’

Washington: Donald Trump says he is selecting venture capitalist David Sacks of Craft Ventures to serve as his artificial intelligence and crypto tsar, a newly created position that underscores the US president-elect’s intent to boost two rapidly developing industries.

“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,” Trump said in a post to his Truth Social network on Friday (AEDT).

Trump said Sacks would also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology.

David Sacks and Elon Musk in 2006. The men worked together at PayPal.Credit: Getty

In Sacks, Trump is tapping one of his most prominent Silicon Valley supporters and fundraisers for a prime position in his administration. Sacks played a key role in bolstering Trump’s fundraising among technology industry donors, including hosting an event at his San Francisco home in June. He is also closely associated with Vice President-elect JD Vance, the investor-turned-Ohio senator.

The new tsar position is expected to help spearhead the crypto industry deregulation Trump promised on the campaign trail. The role is expected to provide cryptocurrency advocates a direct line to the White House and serve as a liaison between Trump, Congress and the federal agencies that interface with digital assets, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Trump heavily campaigned on supporting crypto, after previously disparaging digital assets during his first White House term, saying their “value is highly volatile and based on thin air”.

Trump supporter, Silicon Valley entrepreneur David Sacks.Credit: File

He once labelled crypto a scam - but this time during the campaign promised to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet” and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.

Bitcoin broke $US100,000 for the first time on Thursday, a milestone hailed even by sceptics as a coming-of-age for digital assets as investors bet on a friendly US administration to cement the place of cryptocurrencies in financial markets.

He said Sacks would “work on a legal framework so the crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the US”.

On the AI front, Sacks would help Trump put his imprint on an emerging technology whose popular use has exploded in recent years. Sacks is poised to be at the frontlines in determining how the federal government both adopts AI and regulates its use as advances in the technology and adoption by consumers pose a wide array of benefits as well as risks touching on national security, privacy, jobs and other areas.

Sacks can also be expected to work closely with billionaire Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and one of Trump’s most prominent supporters. Musk is also a player in the AI space with his company xAI and a chatbot named Grok – efforts which pit him against Silicon Valley’s giants – and he stands to wield significant influence within the incoming administration. The two worked together at PayPal.

Sacks is also a former chief executive of software company Zenefits and founded Yammer, a social network for enterprise users purchased by Microsoft for US$1.2 billion in 2012.

The appointment won’t require Sacks to divest or publicly disclose his assets. Like Musk, Sacks will be a special government employee. He can serve a maximum of 130 days per year, with our without compensation.

However, conflict of interest rules apply to special government employees, meaning Sacks will have to recuse himself from matters that could impact his holdings.

Trump also named former senator David Perdue of Georgia to serve as ambassador to China, a job that is expected to continue to be America’s most complicated diplomatic relationship in the years to come.

Trump said in a social media post that Perdue, a former CEO, “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue pushed Trump’s debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for Georgia governor.

Bloomberg, Reuters, AP