Last week, Axios reported that President-elect Donald Trump was mulling a plan to appoint an “A.I. czar” to reshape policies regulating the rapidly advancing technology. Although it’s unclear what specific responsibilities this role will entail, it could play a key part in how government agencies adopt A.I. applications and collaborate with chief A.I. officers at various federal agencies appointed under President Joe Biden’s A.I. executive order.
The urgency of naming an A.I. czar is underscored by escalating competition with China, which has outlined ambitious plans to dominate the global A.I. sector by 2030 and poured resources into innovation and infrastructure. The U.S. remains a leader in A.I. by the measure of machine learning models released, private capital investments and responsible A.I. research, according to Stanford University’s recent Global A.I. Power Rankings. However, the U.S. may face challenges in maintaining its edge. Appointing a central figure to lead A.I. initiatives could bolster the country’s position in the global A.I. arms race.
Political observers anticipate Elon Musk, who has been appointed by the President-elect to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to play a major role in determining who takes the A.I. czar position and shaping the agenda for the role. The DOGE aims at reducing the U.S. national debt by cutting government spending. The A.I. czar’s office will likely collaborate closely with the department to drive these efforts.
Critics argue that Musk’s dual role as both an industry leader and policymaker might lead to favoritism, particularly benefiting his A.I. startup, xAI, over competitors like OpenAI.
“There’s no way for Elon Musk to be unbiased,” Hamid Ekbia, a professor specializing in the political economy of computing and A.I. at Syracuse University, told Observer. “He will use his new-fangled role to insert xAI into a dominant position at the expense of competitors who have a history of divergent agendas and philosophies.”
Supporters see Musk’s involvement with the A.I. czar role as a positive force for the tech industry. Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI), a bipartisan nonprofit promoting responsible A.I. development, recently launched a petition to urge Trump to appoint Musk as a special advisor to the President on A.I., a role established under the Biden administration to address the opportunities and challenges A.I. poses to the nation’s infrastructure. “No one is better equipped to help the Trump Administration make America lead on A.I. than Elon Musk,” reads the petition page on ARI’s website.
Trump has been outspoken about his intention to roll back Biden’s A.I. executive order, signed in October 2023, arguing that it “stifles innovation” and imposes “radical left-wing ideas” on technology development. However, he does agree with Biden’s vision to position America as a leader in the global A.I. race.
To that end, the Trump administration is expected to maintain and possibly extend restrictions on China’s access to advanced semiconductors, building on Biden’s CHIPS Act introduced in 2022. Moreover, the future of the U.S. AI Safety Institute (AISI), established under Biden’s A.I. executive order to lead government efforts on A.I. safety, now hangs in the balance. With the newly formed DOGE set to focus on cutting federal programs, AISI faces the risk of being dismantled.
“A lighter regulatory approach under Trump could drive innovation, but it also brings safety concerns unless transparency is prioritized to address risks and prevent overreaction,” Dave Maher, CTO of the data interoperability platform Intertrust who has 30 years of experience in secure computing, told Observer. “However, there’s likely to be resistance to transparency from Big Tech—that’s where the real battle will unfold.”
Syracuse’s Ekbia predicts that fostering A.I. innovation in today’s monopolistic environment will be a tough challenge for the incoming A.I. czar, as major tech players often stifle competition through mergers and patent hoarding. “The A.I. ecosystem will become further toughened and tightened, with the prospect of new monopolies emerging. For a potential A.I. czar, that’s both a blessing and a curse,” he said.
