White House AI, Crypto Czar Says His Time Is Up

Venture capitalist David Sacks is trading his "AI and Crypto Czar" title for a broader tech advisory role in President Trump's White House. Sacks told Bloomberg on Thursday that he has exhausted the 130 days he was allowed to serve as a special government employee and will now become co-chair of the President's Council of Advisers on Science & Technology. The outside advisory group, made up of experts from industry and academia, offers evidence-based guidance to the president on science, technology, and innovation policy, CNBC reports. New members announced this week include billionaires Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Jensen Huang.

Sacks, a longtime Silicon Valley investor, has been a visible presence in Trump's second-term tech agenda and is considered to have had regular direct access to the president. Sacks said he will continue to push the administration's recently released AI policy framework from his new perch. He has previously argued the White House wants to speed up permitting and power generation for companies, aiming to enable rapid infrastructure expansion without increasing household electricity bills.

• A White House memo last March disclosed that Sacks had unloaded more than $200 million in digital asset-related investments, a move that helped clear the way for his government service while he helped shape the administration's approach to AI and crypto.

• Sacks' exit from the AI czar role follows his remarks earlier this month that the US should "declare victory and get out" of the Iran war. In what Reuters describes as "a rare instance of a prominent figure in the Trump administration calling for an exit from the conflict," Sacks warned on March 13 that a longer campaign could deepen chaos in the Middle East.
• Sacks downplayed the remarks Thursday. "I don't think the view that I expressed is very different than anything the president said. He has said that he would like to bring this war to a conclusion, and he said that our objectives are almost complete," he told Bloomberg. "What happens next is obviously up to him, and I don't want to get in the way of our foreign policy team making those decisions."