David Sacks, a venture capitalist who became a special White House official under US President Donald Trump last year, has wrapped up his 130-day tenure as crypto and AI czar but will continue to shape policy in a new role.
“We’ve now used up that time,” Sacks told Bloomberg on Thursday, noting that he will continue making policy recommendations across a broad range of tech industries as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
Sacks has been an influential figure in the White House since Trump tabbed him in December 2024 as his key adviser on technology. Reuters noted that under US rules, such special government employees are limited to 130 days of work in a 12-month period.
Still, the new role will overlap with his previous duties as crypto and AI czar, as he and other members will “study issues together” before issuing official recommendations to regulators, Sacks noted.
As the crypto and AI czar, Sacks helped the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets release a 166-page report in July, which outlined recommendations on how the crypto industry should be regulated.
More recently, on March 20, Sacks helped the Trump administration put out an AI framework that seeks to empower AI innovation and workplace development while protecting children and intellectual property rights.
Sacks also played a role in the passage of the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act in July and continues to push for crypto market structure legislation, such as the CLARITY Act.
A report from Fox Business, quoting a senior adviser to the president, said Sacks will continue serving as AI and crypto czar while taking on a broader portfolio.
“David will always be his crypto and AI czar, but to the admin more broadly, this new role will allow him to advise on a broader range of critical tech issues,” they said.
PCAST may be more AI-focused than crypto
PCAST will consist of 13 tech leaders spread across AI, crypto, health care and quantum computing.
Among the members joining Sacks are Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, AMD’s Lisa Su, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Andreessen “a16z” Horowitz’s Marc Andreessen and Dell Technologies’ Michael Dell.
The only crypto-native member is Fred Ehrsam, who co-founded Coinbase with CEO Brian Armstrong in 2012 before co-founding crypto-focused VC Paradigm in 2018.
Related: SEC is no longer a ‘cop on the beat’ on crypto, says US lawmaker
Sacks said a primary focus of PCAST is to ensure America’s AI strategy is aligned between the federal and state governments:
“The problem that we’re seeing right now is that you’ve got 50 different states regulating this in 50 different ways, and it’s creating a patchwork of regulation that’s difficult for innovators to comply with.”
“So what the president has called for is one rulebook,” he added.
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