Overview
- President Trump announced that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not take the permanent AI czar role and should remain at Treasury.
- The White House still intends to create an AI adviser and an 'AI Force' but has not named a candidate or defined the office’s powers and membership.
- Bessent recently led talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York and said the U.S. proposed an AI safety notification mechanism and a bilateral AI dialogue focused on national security.
- Researchers and members of Congress have voiced alarm about AI safety, citing incidents of rogue AI behavior and urging clearer oversight, while the White House favors industry-led accountability over new regulation.
- The administration’s personnel uncertainty follows a temporary czarship by David Sacks and raises questions about who will coordinate U.S. domestic policy and diplomatic engagement on cross-border AI risks.