---
title: "Trump’s New AI Czar Is Also the Guy Running 18 Spy Agencies"
description: "Jay Clayton will chair a ‘Super Intelligence Force’ with 120 days to say what Washington should do about AI"
author: "Nate Ledger"
published: 2026-10-03T23:37:23Z
modified: 2026-10-04T01:01:09Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/trump-s-new-ai-czar-is-also-the-guy-running-18-spy-agencies-5f9513
language: en
tags: ["ai", "trump", "intelligence", "regulation", "superintelligence", "us"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Trump’s New AI Czar Is Also the Guy Running 18 Spy Agencies

*Jay Clayton will chair a ‘Super Intelligence Force’ with 120 days to say what Washington should do about AI*

By Nate Ledger · October 3, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/trump-s-new-ai-czar-is-also-the-guy-running-18-spy-agencies-5f9513

## In brief

- The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Trump picked intelligence chief Jay Clayton as AI czar; Clayton described the role to the Journal
- A White House official told SCMP that such reporting is “baseless speculation” until the president announces it himself
- Clayton’s task force gets 120 days to report on AI’s risks and opportunities and recommend the federal role
- The group will be called the “Super Intelligence Force”; Trump prefers the term to AI
- David Sacks was Trump’s first AI czar; he left the White House but still advises the president on AI

The way you know a White House staffing story is real, as a general matter, is that the person reportedly getting the job starts describing the job. On Saturday the Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump has picked Jay Clayton — the sitting director of national intelligence — as his new artificial intelligence czar, and Clayton, who would know, spent the interview explaining his remit. CNBC relayed the Journal’s report; the South China Morning Post had the selection a day earlier from a source familiar with the decision, and noted the news was first reported by CBS. So: reported by CBS, detailed by the Journal, confirmed in effect by the appointee.

The White House’s official position, meanwhile, is that none of this has happened. “Any personnel announcement will be announced directly by the president,” an official told the SCMP, and “any reporting until then is baseless speculation.” Sure. The baseless speculation included Clayton himself, on the record, telling the Journal that he will lead a new White House task force. The White House did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Here is what Clayton says the job is. The task force gets 120 days to research and report on AI’s risks and opportunities, and to offer recommendations on what the federal government’s responsibilities regarding the technology should be. “The president asked that a group be put together that was going to ensure exactly what he said, which is that we stay the leaders in superintelligence, and that the interests of the American people are put first,” Clayton said, per the Journal.

The group will be called the “Super Intelligence Force,” or SI, a senior White House official told the Journal, because the president prefers that term to AI. The rebrand has been building for a while — last month Trump hosted industry chiefs at a White House [Super Intelligence Luncheon](https://rews.cc/a/trump-hosts-ai-chiefs-at-white-house-super-intelligence-lunc-4f99a5) — and you can see the appeal. Regulating artificial intelligence sounds like homework; leading the world in superintelligence sounds like a comic book. Same product, new label.

One advantage of the czar format is that it is not a real job in the constitutional sense. There is no statute creating it, no office, no Senate confirmation — just the president pointing at someone. That is how one man can oversee 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, as Clayton already does as director of national intelligence — the SCMP reports he is expected to keep that role — and also become, in the Journal’s phrase, effectively the new AI czar. When a job is made up, it can always be doubled.

What policy should one expect? Trump sketched it in a September Truth Social post announcing a new “AI Force” to help the industry and root out bad actors: “We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry. Rather, we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows!” The post also promised an AI czar and added: “Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!” Translated from the original capitalized: the regulatory posture is nurturing, and the screening criterion for applicants is that they be smart, which conveniently describes everyone who applies for things.

The backdrop, per the SCMP, is that AI researchers have warned that some of the people building the technology believe it could kill humans within a decade — a risk montage that presumably lands somewhere in those 18 agencies’ in-trays already. It is also the second time Trump has named an AI overseer: venture capitalist David Sacks held the role at the start of the second term, left the White House, still advises the president on AI, and attended a Tuesday meeting with Trump and industry executives. Czar is less a career than a rotation.

For now, then, the administration’s answer to superintelligence is a 120-day study group chaired by the nation’s top spy, a man whose day job involves watching every threat on Earth simultaneously. If SI turns out to be as fast as advertised, at least the report should be a quick read.

## Sources

- [Trump taps Jay Clayton as AI czar, WSJ reports](https://cnbc.com/2026/10/03/trump-jay-clayton-ai-czar.html) — cnbc.com
- [Trump expected to name Jay Clayton as AI tsar](https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3369639/trump-expected-name-jay-clayton-ai-tsar?module=top_story&pgtype=homepage) — scmp.com