David Sacks Steps Down as White House AI Czar
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- David Sacks revealed on Thursday that he is no longer a special government employee, ending his tenure as Trump's Special Advisor on AI and Crypto after exceeding the 130-day SGE limit more than a year after his appointment.
- Sacks will co-chair the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), where he said he can now make recommendations on an "expanded range of technology topics" beyond just AI, though the role is advisory only and does not involve coordinating with federal agencies.
- PCAST gained several new appointments this week, including Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, Jensen Huang, and Sergey Brin, with White House Office of Science and Technology Policy head Michael Kratsios serving as co-chair.
- Michael Toscano, senior fellow at the conservative Institute for Family Studies, called Sacks "a political disaster" who was "singularly responsible for the White House losing its populist bona fides" after his push for a blanket ban on AI state laws alienated Republican governors and MAGA populists.
- Sacks further angered Trumpworld last week by publicly criticizing the president on his podcast All In, saying Trump needed an "off-ramp" from his war with Iran.
- Sacks had held a major Silicon Valley fundraiser for Trump in 2024 and had direct access to the Oval Office, wielding significant power in shaping White House technology policy.
Why it matters: Sacks exits the AI czar role after alienating both Republican governors and MAGA populists with his aggressive preemption push, and after publicly breaking with Trump on Iran — making him a rare official who clashed with the president on policy and survived via demotion rather than firing. His move to PCAST keeps Silicon Valley influence inside the White House, with Zuckerberg, Andreessen, Huang, and Brin now formally advising on tech policy.
