Trump taps Elon Musk’s ally and venture capitalist David Sacks as AI and crypto czar

President-elect Donald Trump has named David Sacks as the White House’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar, giving the venture capitalist and vocal Republican donor influence over his administration’s policies.

“David will focus on making America the clear global leader in both areas. He will safeguard Free Speech online and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday night. “He will work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the U.S.”

The “PayPal (PYPL-0.35%) Mafia” member gained notoriety as chief operating officer for the payments firm, working alongside Tesla (TSLA+3.17%) CEO Elon Musk and Palantir (PLTR+2.89%) co-founder Peter Thiel. He later founded Yammer (MSFT+1.22%), which was acquired by Microsoft, and briefly led human resource management firm Zenefits.

In 2017, he founded Craft Ventures, which has investments in a number of firms working on AI and crypto, as well as some related to his allies. His investments include Palantir, Musk’s Neuralink, xAI, X, The Boring Company, and SpaceX, as well as Airbnb (ABNB-1.96%), Uber (UBER-9.59%), and Meta (META-0.82%).

Sacks also hosts the influential business and tech “All-in” podcast with industry leaders Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg. Although Sacks has since become a Trump supporter, he donated to rival and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. In 2023, he was the host for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ glitchy presidential campaign launch on X and gave the Trump rival at least $50,000

In June, Sacks hosted a fundraiser for Trump in Silicon Valley that raised $12 million for his campaign. He also hosted Trump on the All-in Podcast and repeatedly made appeals to voters, including in the form of an essay explaining his views, citing immigration issues, the Russia-Ukraine War, and inflation as reasons not to vote for President Joe Biden, who was the Democratic nominee at the time. The following month, he made the case for Trump at the Republican National Convention.

“I am honored and grateful for the trust you have placed in me,” Sacks wrote in reply to Trump on Truth Social. “I look forward to advancing American competitiveness in these critical technologies. Under your leadership, the future is bright!”