‘He actually has juice’: Crypto, AI get a key ally in Sacks

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee are touting the appointment as a sign of their influence. “I’m pretty excited, because I do think there’s a lot we have to get done in the AI and digital asset space — and, listen, David Sacks is a guy who knows how to charge forward.” Trump is already showing that his administration will take a very different view of emerging technology than Biden’s — less cautionary and more enthusiastic about fueling growth. The president-elect is also close to “little tech” — the venture capitalists and entrepreneurs who make up the Silicon Valley ecosystem — and Sacks’ appointment is likely to add momentum to both of those efforts. Rep. French Hill, who’s running to replace the retiring current Chair Patrick McHenry, said in a post on X that he “look forward to working with David and President Trump on driving our mutual priorities of bolstering innovation and ensuring America is the leader of these groundbreaking technologies.” “The mere fact that the U.S. now has a crypto and AI ‘czar’ reflects the impact of” the panel, McHenry said in a post on X. In a post on Truth Social, which Sacks joined shortly after being tapped by Trump, the president-elect said that Sacks “will safeguard Free Speech online, and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship” plus work to provide crypto “the clarity it has been asking for.” Jacob Helberg, senior adviser to Palantir CEO Alex Karp, said he was “thrilled” to see his friend named as czar.