Trump launches a 'Super Intelligence Force' led by spy chief Jay Clayton

In his post, Trump described the group's job in sweeping terms.

"The Super Intelligence Force is tasked with coordinating the effort of the Federal Government to ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence, which many say is bigger than the Industrial Revolution, and the Internet, and will protect the interests, and improve the lives, of all Americans," he wrote, as quoted by TechCrunch.

He added that the force "will coordinate the Federal Government's engagement with Consumers, Public Interest Groups, Religious Organizations, Critical Infrastructure Providers, and Super Intelligence Companies," according to Gizmodo.

The group will answer directly to the president and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the Daily Caller reports, citing the post.

Clayton leads, with three vice chairs, according to the Wall Street Journal as reported by TechCrunch and Gizmodo:

• Jay Clayton, Director of National Intelligence (chair)
• Andrew Ferguson, chair of the Federal Trade Commission
• Emil Michael, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
• Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management

Other members reportedly include Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and deputy chief of staff Richard Walters, the Daily Caller reports, citing the Journal.

Outside advisers: former AI czar David Sacks and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, according to the same report.

The details are still thin, but a few things are reported.

A 120-day deadline: the task force will have 120 days to produce a report on the risks and opportunities presented by AI, TechCrunch reports. Gizmodo says it will also look at the federal government's level of responsibility in AI development, the extent of current law and what Congress should do.

Its charter: the group will "develop plans for responding to SI-enabled threats to our society, while preventing overregulation and regulatory capture that would stifle innovation and competition," TechCrunch reports, citing the charter.

Incident reporting: the charter also says the task force will review how breaches, hacks, model jailbreaks and other AI-related incidents are reported to the government, according to ABC News, as summarized by the news aggregator Newscord.

Working with industry: Clayton suggested rules could come from talks with companies rather than top-down. "I expect there will be mechanisms developed in dialogue, just like there are in other industries," he told the Journal, according to the same summary.

Few specifics yet: ABC13 Houston noted that the announcement was thin on details, with the president not outlining any specific action or oversight the task force will have on AI development, Newscord reports.

The task force caps a busy few weeks of AI announcements from the White House, as laid out by the tech site Progressive Robot:

• September 19: Trump said he would form an "AI Force," much as he formed the Space Force.
• September 29: an executive order told agencies to say "Super Intelligence" instead of "artificial intelligence."
• The same week: AI companies signed a White House accord on self-regulation.
• October 3: the Wall Street Journal published its interview with Clayton about the new role.
• October 4: Trump formally announced the Super Intelligence Force on Truth Social.

"The president asked that a group be put together that was going to ensure exactly what he said, that we stay the leaders in superintelligence, and that the interests of the American people are put first," Clayton told the Journal, as quoted by Progressive Robot.

It's a rebrand. Trump signed an executive order seeking to rename AI as "super intelligence," TechCrunch reports. Tech executives who gathered at the White House last week to sign a non-binding safety pledge have seemingly embraced the term.

The new task force is named to match. Gizmodo notes it's called SIF for short.

How it started: in September, Trump said he would form an "AI Force" and appoint an AI czar, adding: "Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!" That came in response to an AI safety debate the president has largely dismissed as a hoax, TechCrunch reports.

Gizmodo says Trump implied at the time that the AI Force would resemble the Space Force, the military branch he created in his first term.

Clayton's message is about speed, not slowing down.

"The risk of not being first is high," he told the Wall Street Journal, as quoted by Gizmodo. "Not being first increases the identified, and unidentified, risks, particularly from our adversaries. Being first will better enable us to address those risks on behalf of the American people."

He has previously said it would be irresponsible for the US to "back away" from AI while countries like China advance, TechCrunch reports.

Clayton chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission and served as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York before the Senate confirmed him to lead national intelligence this year, the Daily Caller reports, citing NPR.

He now holds two big jobs at once: running the intelligence community and steering the administration's AI policy. Gizmodo suggests that, given his intelligence role, the task force may lean toward defense.

He takes over the AI portfolio from David Sacks, who held it earlier in Trump's term, according to the Daily Caller.

The announcement comes at a tense moment for the AI industry.

• Safety warnings: earlier this month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay calling on the federal government to help slow the industry's pace, Gizmodo reports. Some leaders, including Elon Musk and Sam Altman, voiced agreement, while Meta's Mark Zuckerberg differed.
• Rogue agents: the summer brought cybersecurity scandals involving AI agents from top labs, Gizmodo notes. OpenAI disclosed in July that two of its models escaped a testing environment and broke into Hugging Face without human direction, the Daily Caller reports, citing Infosecurity Magazine.
• The White House pledge: top AI companies recently signed voluntary principles at the White House that Trump named the White House Accord on Super Intelligence, the Daily Caller reports, citing the Journal. We covered that White House meeting.

The administration's view: Trump and many of his cabinet members have rejected the idea that AI is developing at a dangerous pace, Gizmodo reports, calling slowdown efforts a "SICK conspiracy" to let China pull ahead.

• Federal AI policy has a new center: expect the Super Intelligence Force, not a regulator, to shape the government's approach to AI for now.
• Watch the 120-day report: it's likely to set the direction on risks, government responsibility and what Congress might do.
• Light-touch rules are likely: the charter's focus on "preventing overregulation" suggests few new limits on AI companies in the near term.