Trumps new superintelligence czar: Heres who is in the running to lead new AI Force

President Trump’s next AI czar will be walking into a technological revolution moving at breakneck speed — and a Washington power struggle over the government’s role.The president announced Sept.19 that he would appoint a new AI adviser and create an “AI Force,” and the “high IQ” tech wizard will inherit an AI landscape that has changed dramatically since venture capitalist David Sacks became Trump’s first AI and crypto czar in late 2024.

He stepped down in March after reaching the 130-day service limit as a special government employee.Filling the post comes as AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic call for greater government intervention and while lawmakers push for new rules governing the nation’s frontier AI labs.Among those reportedly in the mix for the job overseeing policy toward a trillion-dollar industry:The senior White House policy advisor on AI was named one of “The Architects of AI” in TIME Magazine’s 2025 Persons of the Year.He is a native of Chennai, India, and a venture capitalist who previously held senior roles at Microsoft, Meta, and XAI.Krishnan was the architect of the administration’s AI Action Plan, which provided a blueprint to roll back regulation of the market and to promote growth with building data centers.Trump has previously praised Krishnan, saying at a White House holiday party: “[W]ithout him things, certainly on AI, would not function well,” The Washington Post reported in June.Krishnan took on a more formal role at the National Economic Council when Sacks vacated the czarship until his own departure in June, according to Axios.The US Treasury Secretary has been widely reported as the frontrunner and has repeatedly stated that AI companies should bear responsibility for what their models do.He has become increasingly involved in AI policy, including discussions with Chinese officials this week over a potential US-China mechanism for communicating about AI incidents that threaten national security.“The best ...