President Donald Trump is expected to appoint Jay Clayton, the US director of national intelligence, to oversee artificial intelligence policy and development, according to reports cited by Cointelegraph. The proposed role would reportedly include responsibility for AI innovation as well as efforts to have technology companies “self-police” their models and development.
The reports have not been confirmed by the White House. CNN and other media outlets cited unidentified sources, while CBS News identified Clayton as the leading candidate. A White House official told CBS that any appointment would be announced directly by Trump and characterized the reports as speculation.
If confirmed, Clayton would apparently retain his current position as director of national intelligence while taking on the additional AI assignment. The move would place a senior national-security official at the center of the administration’s effort to manage a rapidly expanding technology sector without imposing rules that could, in Trump’s view, slow innovation.
A proposed AI structure without added regulation
Trump previously said he planned to create an “AI Force,” modeled on the US Space Force, and appoint an artificial intelligence czar. The stated objective was to coordinate management of the fast-growing AI industry while avoiding additional regulation that might hinder development.
The reported appointment comes after a series of warnings from technology executives about the risks of artificial intelligence. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed a three-step plan to slow the pace of AI development to a level that could be more safely understood and controlled. Anthropic later selected Accenture as an embedded evaluator to help moderate the speed of its AI development, described as the first step in Amodei’s proposal.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded positively to Amodei’s plan. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took a different position, arguing that additional regulation was not necessary. The contrasting views illustrate the policy tension facing the administration: companies and officials are weighing the potential benefits of faster AI progress against concerns about oversight and control.
Trump also recently brought AI and technology executives to the White House to sign a commitment to “self-police” their companies’ AI models and development. That approach would rely substantially on voluntary industry safeguards rather than a broad new regulatory framework.
Clayton’s government and technology background
Clayton previously served as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term. He later became interim US attorney for the Southern District of New York and was confirmed by the Senate in July to lead the US intelligence community.
CNN reported that Clayton is expected to continue as director of national intelligence if he also receives the AI assignment. His background could give the proposed role a strong national-security focus, although the available reports do not specify the exact powers, staffing or organizational structure that would accompany the position.
During his confirmation hearing, Clayton described AI as a “game changer,” saying it represented both an opportunity and a threat. Those comments are consistent with the dual focus implied by the reported appointment: encouraging technological development while addressing risks associated with increasingly capable AI systems.
Earlier White House technology coordination
The reported role would follow the work of David Sacks, the venture capitalist who served as a special White House official for crypto and AI. Cointelegraph reported in March that Sacks had completed a 130-day tenure as crypto and AI czar. Under US rules, special government employees are limited to 130 days of work in a 12-month period.
Sacks said at the time that the limit had been reached, but that he would continue offering policy recommendations across technology industries as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The reported Clayton appointment would therefore represent a new arrangement for coordinating AI policy rather than a continuation of Sacks’ special-government-employee role.
Market picture
Moneyiar market data at 09:08-09:09 on October 3, 2026, showed Polygon’s POL token at $0.1077365485, down 2.42% over 24 hours and 10.01% over seven days. The OFFICIAL TRUMP token was priced at $2.0558501217, down 2.10% in 24 hours and 2.96% over seven days.
Telcoin was trading at $0.0019535213 at 09:09, down 10.18% over 24 hours but up 20.89% over seven days. These figures describe market conditions at the stated times and do not establish a direct connection between token performance and the reported AI appointment.
