Trump Floats Jay Clayton For AI Czar. He Has Called AI Both An Opportunity And a Threat.

President Donald Trump is considering Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton for a new White House AI czar role as his administration works to put a central figure in charge of its evolving approach to artificial intelligence.

Trump told Axios that Clayton would be a good choice when the intelligence chief’s name was raised during an exchange Tuesday. Asked whom he had in mind for the position, Trump said, “I have somebody in mind,” before describing Clayton as “a good man” and responding favorably to the suggestion that he take the job.

Trump also said he expected to choose someone within the next three or four days. The administration has yet to publicly spell out exactly what authority the new AI czar would have or how the position would interact with existing agencies.

Clayton took over as director of national intelligence on Aug. 3 after being confirmed by the Senate. As DNI, he heads the U.S. intelligence community and serves as the president’s principal adviser on intelligence matters, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Before taking the job, Clayton served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and, during Trump’s first term, as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Artificial intelligence was already on Clayton’s agenda before his confirmation. During his July 15 hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Clayton called AI a “game changer” while discussing the resilience and vulnerability of financial markets and the implications of the technology for national security.

“I expect it’s the same, or at least it resonates in the intelligence community, that AI is not only an opportunity but a threat,” Clayton said during the hearing. “When something is both an opportunity and a threat, you better get your arms around it.”

The possibility of giving Clayton a wider AI portfolio comes as Trump is making changes to how the federal government talks about and uses the technology.

On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order directing executive agencies to use the terms “Super Intelligence” and “SI” instead of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in official communications and policy documents to the maximum extent permitted by law. The order retains the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence for now and directs the White House science adviser to develop proposed legislative language for a federal definition of “Super Intelligence” within 60 days.

The administration also launched America.gov, which the White House describes as a single digital entry point for accessing federal information and services. A separate executive order directs agencies to integrate eligible services into the platform and calls for the technology used by the site to be accurate, reliable and transparent.

Trump has separately said he wants an “AI Force” and a new AI czar, though the structure and responsibilities of the proposed entity remain unsettled. Axios previously reported that Trump’s announcement of the AI Force caught some advisers by surprise and triggered a scramble inside and outside the administration over who might lead it. Those details were based on the outlet’s original reporting from sources.

The president’s interest in Clayton emerged on the same day senior administration officials and technology executives gathered in Washington for discussions about AI. Axios, citing a list of attendees it obtained, reported that Clayton was among the officials expected at the White House gathering, along with Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House science adviser Michael Kratsios and former White House AI czar David Sacks. Executives from companies including Nvidia, Meta, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft and AMD were also listed as participants.

The White House’s latest moves follow Trump’s public rejection of international efforts to place AI under broader global control. In his Sept. 22 address to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said the United States opposed what he described as a global system of control for the technology and used the term “Super Intelligence” in discussing it.

Clayton’s current position already places him at the center of national-security questions surrounding advanced technology. The ODNI says the director coordinates intelligence activities across the U.S. intelligence community while overseeing implementation of the National Intelligence Program.