Donald Trump names national intelligence chief Jay Clayton to lead new AI task force

President Donald Trump has appointed Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to lead a new federal task force on artificial intelligence, placing the nation’s top spy chief at the centre of the government's technological strategy.

The appointment, announced by Trump on social media on Sunday, comes as the administration seeks to coordinate how the US government manages the rapid and competitive rise of AI.

What the task force will do

Trump said the new task force will work across a broad range of sectors, bringing together AI companies with consumers, public interest groups, religious organisations, and critical infrastructure providers.

The primary goal of the initiative, according to the president, is to coordinate federal efforts "to ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence" — a phrase Trump has used to describe the technology. He wrote that AI is "bigger than the Industrial Revolution, and the Internet," and promised the task force would protect American interests and improve lives.

A focus on national security and self-regulation

The announcement follows a high-profile meeting at the White House on Tuesday, 29 September, where Trump hosted executives from the country's leading artificial intelligence firms. Following those talks, the president stated that the tech leaders had agreed to self-police the development of their systems.

Other high-profile administration figures are also attached to the new effort. Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor will join Clayton on the team. All three officials are set to report directly to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

By placing the Director of National Intelligence at the helm, the administration is signalling that AI is increasingly being viewed through the lens of national security. Clayton, who oversees the nation's sprawling intelligence apparatus, will now have to balance those security concerns with the commercial and social pressures of a rapidly evolving industry. It is not yet clear how the new task force will define its regulatory boundaries, particularly given Trump's assertion that tech companies have agreed to police themselves.