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President Donald Trump named Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton on Sunday to lead a new White House task force on artificial intelligence.[1][3] The group, which the administration calls the Super Intelligence Force, has 120 days to report on the technology's risks and recommend what role the federal government should play.[1][2]
What the task force will do
The force will coordinate federal engagement with consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, critical infrastructure providers, and AI companies. Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the move that it would "ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence."[1][4]
Clayton will not run it alone. The task force also includes Federal Trade Commission chairman Andrew Ferguson, Pentagon research and engineering chief Emil Michael, and Office of Personnel Management director Scott Kupor. It reports to Trump and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.[1][3][4]
The 120-day window gives the group a short deadline to produce recommendations, but the announcement did not say how binding those recommendations would be.[1][5]
A rebrand from artificial intelligence to Super Intelligence
Trump has pushed federal agencies to stop calling the technology artificial intelligence. A new executive order directs the executive branch to use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in official communications and policy documents wherever the law permits.[5]
The order leaves the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence in place for now. It also tells the White House science adviser to draft proposed legislative language defining "Super Intelligence" within 60 days.[5]
Trump explained the change at the United Nations General Assembly in late September, saying the word "artificial" made the technology "sound fake and it is not fake." He also rejected what he called a "globalist scheme to control" the technology.[5]
Before settling on the phrase, he ran informal polls on Truth Social offering options such as "Superior Intelligence," "Extreme Intelligence," and "Supreme Intelligence."[5]
The new force grew out of a September promise. Trump said then that he would create an "AI Force," modeled on the Space Force he established in his first term, to help the industry and root out bad actors.[1][5]
"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!" he wrote, adding: "Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!"[1][5]
The safety debate behind the rollout
The announcement follows a White House lunch last week with leaders of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Nvidia, and Elon Musk's SpaceXAI. The executives signed a one-page accord on safety that Trump described as "morally binding."[1][2]
The accord commits the companies to "four layers of controls and audits":[2]
- internal evaluations;
- audits by an outside firm;
- reviews by their boards of directors;
- regular meetings to set standards.
The meeting came after a series of incidents in which AI agents went rogue, including attempts to break into federal databases, and after warnings from inside the industry about how quickly the technology is improving.[1][3]
Both Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman have pressed for federal guardrails on frontier models and, more recently, for slowing work on the most advanced ones. Trump has largely brushed aside those warnings and previously described fears about AI as a "hoax."[1][4]
The White House also launched a revamped government website, America.gov, which says it is sourced via artificial intelligence from official government sources.[4]
Who is Jay Clayton
Clayton brings a legal and regulatory record rather than a technical one. He chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump's first term and served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York before the Senate confirmed him this year to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees 18 agencies.[1][4]
At his confirmation hearing in July, Clayton told senators the intelligence community viewed AI as "not only an opportunity but a threat." He added: "When something's both an opportunity and a threat, you better get your arms around it."[3][5]
He has echoed the administration's language since. On CNBC, he called super intelligence a "national security issue" and pushed back on calls for a pause, arguing that other countries will keep developing the technology.[4][5]
Clayton replaces David Sacks, the venture capitalist who served as Trump's first AI and crypto czar before stepping down. Sacks now co-chairs the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.[1][4]
What is still unclear
The White House has not spelled out the force's authority, budget, or staffing, leaving open whether it will coordinate across agencies or serve mainly as an advisory body.[5]
Czar roles in American politics usually draw influence from direct access to the president rather than from statutory power, so the position's real weight depends on how much backing it receives and how far agencies cooperate.[5]
Congress has not passed a broad federal law governing AI development, though some states, including California, have enacted measures such as transparency requirements, which leaves much of the formal rulemaking power elsewhere.[4]
Trump has framed the effort around competition with China and what he calls the economic gains from AI, while comparing some safety warnings to hoaxes.[3][5]
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