President Trump announced plans to create an “AI Force” and appoint a new “czar” to oversee the development of artificial intelligence across the United States.
Trump made the announcement in a lengthy Truth Social post, dismissing concerns about the absence of federal AI guardrails as a “hoax.”
The president framed his proposals as a necessary step to protect and advance AI development, describing the technology as “the next Industrial Revolution” critical to U.S. economic growth.
Trump compared the proposed AI Force directly to the Space Force, which he established during his first term in office.
“For this purpose, I am forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force, which has been a tremendous SUCCESS, in my First Term. To that end, I will be announcing, in the near future, the AI ‘Czar’ — Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!” Trump wrote.
Despite dismissing AI fears as overblown, Trump acknowledged some risks, saying the administration would look for “BAD” actors using “our already existing Criminal and Civil Justice System.”
Trump did not elaborate on how the AI Force would operate, what its specific duties would entail, or whether it would function as a military branch like the Space Force.
Venture capitalist David Sacks previously served as Trump’s AI and cryptocurrency czar until March, when he stepped down after reaching his time limit as a special government employee, and now chairs the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
The announcements come as concern among U.S. tech executives continues to grow, with leaders of the world’s largest AI companies publicly calling for a slowdown in the technology’s development following warnings about rapid advances outpacing safety measures.
After a safety researcher at Anthropic warned there was a greater than 10 percent chance AI “could kill all humans” within the next decade, Trump dismissed that assessment as a “hoax.”
AI regulation is expected to feature prominently at diplomatic gatherings in the coming week, with the Trump administration convening a high-level AI event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s (NVDA) Jensen Huang, and Google’s (GOOGL) Sundar Pichai are among the technology executives slated to attend a White House state dinner as well.
Public enthusiasm for AI expansion remains limited, with a New York Times-Siena poll of 1,503 likely voters finding 61 percent opposed building data centers to power AI, including 47 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of Democrats.
An AP-NORC-University of Chicago poll found 53 percent of Americans were highly concerned about AI’s environmental impact, while a POLITICO-Public First poll found 63 percent of U.S. adults see at least a moderate risk that advanced AI could eventually destroy humanity.
