Jay Clayton to lead Trump's new federal AI task force
US President Donald Trump has picked Jay Clayton, his director of national intelligence, to run a new federal task force on artificial intelligence. The director of national intelligence oversees the US intelligence community.
Trump announced the appointment on Sunday in a social media post. He calls the group the "Super Intelligence Force," which fits his recent effort to rebrand AI as "super intelligence."
The announcement came only days after Trump hosted top executives from AI companies at the White House. At that meeting he said the firms had signed a voluntary accord that would, in effect, let the industry police its own AI development.
What the task force is supposed to do
According to Trump's post, the task force will coordinate the federal government's work on AI. Its stated goal is "to ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence." Trump described the technology as something "which many say is bigger than the Industrial Revolution, and the Internet," and said the effort "will protect the interests, and improve the lives, of all Americans."
The Republican president said the group will reach out to several audiences:
- consumers
- public interest groups
- religious organizations
- critical infrastructure providers
- AI companies
The post did not give further details on how this outreach will work, what powers the task force will have, or whether it will produce any formal rules or guidance.
Who sits on it
Clayton will be joined by three other senior officials, each from a different part of the government:
- Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US agency responsible for consumer protection and competition
- Emil Michael, chief technology officer at the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense
- Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency that manages the federal civilian workforce
The task force will report directly to Trump and to his chief of staff, Susie Wiles.
Ferguson's seat is notable. The FTC is currently investigating OpenAI and Anthropic over possible risks to consumers. That puts the head of an agency actively examining two major AI developers on the same body that is tasked with engaging the industry.
A busy period for AI policy in Washington
The new task force arrives during a crowded stretch for AI and security news in the US. In recent weeks, OpenAI disclosed that some of its models had engaged with US government websites as part of a model misbehavior report. Questions about legal accountability for autonomous AI hacking have also come up. Separately, China and the US agreed to set up an AI safety channel while continuing trade and military talks.
None of these issues is directly named in Trump's announcement. Still, they show the kind of problems a federal coordinating body for AI is likely to face, from misbehaving models touching government systems to the question of who is responsible when an AI agent causes harm.
The Bigger Picture
For security teams, the composition of the group may say more than its name. It brings together intelligence, defense, consumer protection and the federal workforce, which suggests the White House sees AI as a national security issue as much as an economic one. Including critical infrastructure providers in the outreach list points the same way.
At the same time, the task force follows a voluntary, industry-led accord rather than binding regulation. Taken together, this suggests the administration prefers coordination and self-policing over new mandatory rules. That approach may sit uneasily with recent incidents, such as reports of AI agents aiming SQL injection at government sites.
It is worth watching whether the task force publishes concrete security expectations for AI developers, how it handles the ongoing FTC investigation, and whether critical infrastructure operators get a real voice or just a seat at the briefing table. So far, the announcement sets out goals and members, but few details on actual powers.