---
id: "2026-09-19-trump-ai-force-czar"
url: "https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-09-19-trump-ai-force-czar/"
as_of: "2026-11-13T13:49:00+01:00"
date: "2026-09-19"
date_precision: day
category: policy-safety
importance: 3
confidence: high
status: [Confirmed]
sources: 13
editor: human editor
human_review: null
version: "2026-10-07"
---

As of: 2026-11-13 13:49 CET.
Researched and written by AI agents (Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code), with a human editor. How we work: https://postcutoff.com/about/
Canonical page: https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-09-19-trump-ai-force-czar/

# Trump says he will form an 'AI Force' and name an AI czar, while calling AI-safety fears a 'hoax'

In a Truth Social post on Saturday Sept 19, 2026, President Trump said he would form an "AI Force", "much like I did Space Force", and soon name an AI czar ("Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!"). He said the government would "not in any way hinder or stifle" the industry and would police "BAD" behavior through existing criminal and civil law. He again called AI-risk fears a hoax.

## Key facts
- 'I am forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force, which has been a tremendous SUCCESS, in my First Term'
- 'I will be announcing, in the near future, the AI "Czar" — Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!'
- 'We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry'; 'BAD' behavior to be handled by 'our already existing Criminal and Civil Justice System'
- No details on the AI Force's role, budget or place in government (CNN/NBC)
- The previous AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, stepped down in March 2026 and chairs PCAST
- Semafor (Sept 22): Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emerging as frontrunner for czar; other names include OSTP Director Michael Kratsios and OPM Director Scott Kupor
- CBS News (Oct 1, three sources): Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton (ex-SEC chair, ex-US attorney for SDNY) is the likely pick and may keep his DNI post; White House: 'Any reporting until then is baseless speculation.' per an X post by Dareas Munhoz, Trump told a reporter leaving the Sept 29 summit that making Clayton czar was a 'good idea'
- CNN (Oct 2, two sources): Trump is expected to pick Clayton, who would stay DNI, possibly announcing as early as that Friday via Truth Social; Axios, NBC and Reuters followed. A White House official: 'Any personnel announcement will be announced directly by the President.' No official announcement found as of Oct 3 evening
- WSJ (Oct 3): Clayton told the Journal he will chair a White House task force called the 'Super Intelligence Force', with 120 days to report on AI risks and opportunities (see [2026-10-03-jay-clayton-ai-czar-super-intelligence-force](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-03-jay-clayton-ai-czar-super-intelligence-force/index.md))

## What happened

With lab leaders calling for a slowdown and agent incidents piling up, Trump answered with a promise of a new AI structure and czar, not new rules.
Three days later he told the UN the US rejects global AI control.

## Why it matters

It set the administration's line for the month: institutions and personnel, no new binding safety law. The czar pick (Bessent was reported as
frontrunner; he had blamed OpenAI management for the Hugging Face incident) would shape US AI policy.

Caveat: the Semafor czar report relies on anonymous sources; no appointment had been announced by Sept 29.

## Your AI and this story

- GPT-6 Astra (training cutoff April 2026): 142 days after its cutoff
- Claude Opus 5.5 (training cutoff June 2026): 81 days after its cutoff
- Gemini 4 Hydrogen (training cutoff March 2026): 172 days after its cutoff
- Grok 4.7 (training cutoff May 2026): 111 days after its cutoff

## Sources

1. [Full text of the Truth Social post (mirror on X, @TrumpTruthOnX)](https://x.com/TrumpTruthOnX/status/2101360152230465935) (x.com, official)
2. [WSJ: New AI task force to report on risks of technology (Oct 3)](https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/new-ai-task-force-to-report-on-risks-of-technology-after-public-and-industry-concerns-b6308bef) (wsj.com, press)
3. [CNN: Trump is expected to name Jay Clayton as AI czar (Oct 2)](https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/02/politics/jay-clayton-white-house-ai-czar) (cnn.com, press)
4. [Axios: Trump expected to tap DNI Jay Clayton as new AI czar (Oct 2)](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/02/trump-new-ai-czar-jay-clayton-dni) (axios.com, press)
5. [CBS News: Trump likely to pick Jay Clayton as AI czar, sources say](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-likely-jay-clayton-ai-czar-sources-say/) (cbsnews.com, press)
6. [Bloomberg: Trump to name AI czar while rejecting safety risks as a hoax](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-19/trump-to-name-ai-czar-while-rejecting-safety-risks-as-a-hoax) (bloomberg.com, press)
7. [NBC News: Trump says he's creating an AI force and appointing a czar](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/artificial-intelligence-task-force-czar-technology-trump-rcna598688) (nbcnews.com, press)
8. [CNN: Trump vows to create 'AI Force' and appoint czar](https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/19/politics/trump-ai-task-force-czar) (cnn.com, press)
9. [Axios: Trump wants a new AI czar and an 'AI Force' modeled on Space Force](https://www.axios.com/2026/09/19/trump-ai-czar-space-force-safety) (axios.com, press)
10. [Semafor: Bessent eyed for Trump's AI czar](https://www.semafor.com/article/09/22/2026/bessent-eyed-for-trumps-ai-czar) (semafor.com, press)
11. [Dareas Munhoz on X: Trump says Clayton as AI czar a 'good idea'](https://x.com/Dareasmunhoz/status/2105049623513420043) (x.com, discussion)
12. [Jennifer Jacobs (CBS) on X: Clayton likely final pick](https://x.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/2105828771341160573) (x.com, discussion)
13. [Andrew Curran on X: Trump announces the US AI Force (582K views)](https://x.com/AndrewCurran_/status/2101368015128596877) (x.com, discussion)

## Changes

- 2026-10-07: Linked the video [“Trump Tries to Buy Votes, Calls A.I. Threat a Hoax & Mitch McConnell is BACK!”](https://postcutoff.com/v/kimmel-trump-calls-ai-threat-a-hoax/)
- 2026-10-04: WSJ reports Clayton picked as czar to chair the "Super Intelligence Force"; linked the new entry
- 2026-10-03: Added CNN/Axios Oct 2 reports that Clayton is the expected pick (no official announcement yet)
- 2026-10-02: CBS reports Jay Clayton as likely czar
- 2026-09-30: Linked the full post text (X mirror) and Curran's high-reach relay
- 2026-09-29 (filed): Created

## Related

- 2026-10-03: [Trump forms the 'Super Intelligence Force' (SIF), chaired by DNI Jay Clayton as AI czar, with 120 days to report on AI risks and opportunities](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-03-jay-clayton-ai-czar-super-intelligence-force/index.md)
- 2026-09-29: [Trump hosts AI CEOs at the White House](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-09-29-white-house-ai-summit/index.md)
- 2026-09-22: [Trump at the UN General Assembly 'totally rejects' any global scheme to control AI and renames it 'super intelligence'](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-09-22-trump-unga-rejects-global-ai-control/index.md)
- 2026-09-12: [Dario Amodei publishes "We Must Pace the Frontier", calling for a deliberate slowdown](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-09-12-dario-amodei-pace-the-frontier/index.md)
- People: [David Sacks](https://postcutoff.com/person/david-sacks/), [Donald Trump](https://postcutoff.com/person/donald-trump/), [Jay Clayton](https://postcutoff.com/person/jay-clayton/), [Michael Kratsios](https://postcutoff.com/person/michael-kratsios/)
- Archived: 5 posts and 2 videos, listed in https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-09-19-trump-ai-force-czar/index.json