Trump to name intelligence chief Clayton as AI tsar: Reports

The possible selection comes amid increasing calls for the government to intervene on the rapidly developing technology.

US Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, left, and Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra attend a meeting on artificial intelligence at the White House on September 29, 2026 [Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images via AFP]

United States President Donald Trump is expected to select spy chief Jay Clayton to oversee development of the nation’s artificial intelligence industry, according to multiple news reports.

CNN, CBS and Axios reported Trump is set to name the director of national intelligence (DNI) as his pick for so-called “AI tsar”. The decision could be announced as early as Friday.

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Amid increasing calls for the government to intervene in the rapidly developing technology, Trump last month announced on social media that he would be naming a new AI tsar. “Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!” he wrote.

Trump already had one AI tsar, venture capitalist David Sacks. He resigned earlier this year and became an external adviser to the president.

Clayton, who previously served as the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was confirmed by the US Senate in July to oversee the nation’s spy agencies. He succeeded Bill Pulte, a controversial Trump loyalist who was appointed by the president as acting director of the US intelligence community.

It’s unclear whether Clayton would hold the role of AI tsar in addition to his duties as DNI.

“Any personnel announcement will be announced directly by the President. Any reporting until then is baseless speculation,” a White House official told Al Jazeera.

Clayton’s possible selection comes on the heels of warnings from multiple AI researchers that the technology could kill humans within a decade.

Anthropic’s problems

It also comes as AI giant Anthropic prepares for what is expected to be a blockbuster initial public offering (IPO), aimed for next month, and has warned that US government attitudes towards the company could impact its business.

According to an IPO prospectus seen by the Reuters news agency, the AI company said the Trump administration’s attacks and lawsuits on its technology could hurt relationships with customers and other government partners. The filing also revealed that AI could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity”.

A federal appeals court ruled last week that the US government could blacklist Anthropic from US Department of Defense contracts. The court said that the agency “had ample support for its conclusion” that the company’s products pose a supply chain risk to the Pentagon and its contractors due to code that prevents them from performing certain tasks. Anthropic has said it will not allow its technology to be used for autonomous weapons or surveillance.

Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei and Clayton attended Tuesday’s AI meeting at the White House. Clayton was also a guest at last month’s White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Last month, Trump lashed out at Amodei over his plea for an AI slowdown, calling fears of the technology a “hoax” and a “scam”. Trump also blasted the public backlash to data centres.

Amid the public pushback against the facilities, Amazon announced on Friday that it is investing $1bn over the next five years into US communities where it operates them. Matt Garman, the CEO of the company’s cloud computing business, wrote in a blog post that the money would go towards education, job training, water preservation projects and other local priorities.

在各界越来越呼吁政府干预这项快速发展的技术之际，这一可能的遴选出现了。

2026年9月29日，美国国家情报总监杰伊·克莱顿（左）和美光科技首席执行官桑杰·梅赫罗特拉在白宫出席人工智能会议。[凯文·迪奇/盖蒂图片社，经法新社授权]

据多家新闻媒体报道，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普预计将选择国家情报局局长杰伊·克莱顿来负责监督美国人工智能产业的发展。

CNN、CBS和Axios报道称，特朗普准备提名国家情报总监（DNI）担任所谓的“人工智能沙皇”。最早可能在周五宣布这一决定。

美国监管机构对人工智能公司展开调查（共3家，此为第1家）。

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随着各界呼吁政府干预这项快速发展技术的呼声日益高涨，特朗普上个月在社交媒体上宣布，他将任命一位新的人工智能沙皇。“只有高智商人士才有资格申请！”他写道。

特朗普此前已经有一位人工智能顾问，即风险投资家大卫·萨克斯。他于今年早些时候辞职，成为总统的外部顾问。

克莱顿曾任纽约南区联邦检察官和美国证券交易委员会主席，于7月经美国参议院确认，负责监管国家情报机构。他接替了颇具争议的特朗普忠实拥护者比尔·普尔特，后者由总统任命为美国情报机构代理局长。

目前尚不清楚克莱顿是否会在担任国家情报总监的同时兼任人工智能沙皇一职。

一位白宫官员告诉半岛电视台：“任何人事任命都将由总统直接宣布。在此之前的任何报道都是毫无根据的猜测。”

克莱顿可能被选中之前，多位人工智能研究人员曾警告说，这项技术可能会在十年内杀死人类。

人类学的问题

与此同时，人工智能巨头 Anthropic 正准备进行预计将轰动一时的首次公开募股 (IPO)，目标是下个月，该公司警告称，美国政府对该公司的态度可能会影响其业务。

据路透社看到的一份IPO招股说明书显示，这家人工智能公司表示，特朗普政府对其技术的攻击和诉讼可能会损害其与客户和其他政府合作伙伴的关系。该文件还透露，人工智能可能对人类构成“灾难性或生存性风险”。

上周，一家联邦上诉法院裁定，美国政府可以将Anthropic公司列入美国国防部合同黑名单。法院表示，国防部“有充分证据支持其结论”，即该公司的产品由于其代码无法执行某些任务，对五角大楼及其承包商构成供应链风险。Anthropic公司已表示，不会允许其技术用于自主武器或监视。

Anthropic 首席执行官达里奥·阿莫迪和克莱顿出席了周二在白宫举行的人工智能会议。克莱顿上个月也曾应邀出席白宫为中国国家主席习近平举行的国宴。

上个月，特朗普猛烈抨击阿莫迪呼吁放缓人工智能发展速度的言论，称对这项技术的担忧是“骗局”和“诡计”。特朗普还抨击了公众对数据中心的强烈反对。

尽管公众对这些设施持反对态度，亚马逊周五宣布，未来五年将向其在美国运营这些设施的社区投资10亿美元。该公司云计算业务首席执行官马特·加曼在一篇博客文章中写道，这笔资金将用于教育、职业培训、水资源保护项目和其他当地优先事项。