David Sacks Steps Down as US AI Czar — Leaving America's AI Policy Without a Clear Leader

David Sacks, the venture capitalist appointed as the Trump administration's AI and Crypto Czar in January 2025, has stepped down from the role, the administration confirmed this week. The departure marks the end of a 14-month experiment in having a Silicon Valley figure guide federal AI policy — and it raises immediate questions about who fills the governance gap he leaves behind.

What Sacks Accomplished in the Role

Sacks' tenure produced a mixed legacy. On the positive side, the administration moved quickly to rescind the Biden-era AI Executive Order — a document Sacks and other critics viewed as regulatory overreach that would disadvantage US AI companies relative to less-regulated Chinese counterparts. The replacement executive order, issued in January 2025, emphasized AI capability development and export competitiveness over the safety-focused framework it replaced.

Sacks was also a visible proponent of the Stargate initiative — the $500 billion public-private partnership for US AI infrastructure that now represents the most significant government-adjacent AI investment in history. His relationships with OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle leadership gave the administration credibility in announcing a program that required those companies to commit.

On the other side of the ledger: the administration's handling of the Anthropic designation — classifying the AI safety company as a "supply chain risk" for criticizing defense procurement policy — resulted in a federal court injunction that a judge described using the word "Orwellian." Whether Sacks supported or opposed that designation internally is not publicly known.

The Policy Vacuum and What Comes Next

AI policy in the United States is now effectively leaderless at the executive branch level. Congress has produced no binding AI legislation. The EU AI Act provides a regulatory framework for European markets, but US companies operating domestically face a patchwork of state laws, sector-specific guidance, and informal administration positions rather than a coherent federal framework.

The export control landscape is particularly consequential. The Biden administration's chip export restrictions — limiting advanced GPU sales to certain countries — remain in effect but are actively contested by the technology industry. A clear AI policy voice in the White House would be positioned to shape the next phase of export control evolution as AI hardware capabilities and geopolitical pressures both intensify.

The Broader AI Governance Question

Sacks' departure reflects a structural tension in how governments approach AI governance: the expertise required to understand the technology lives almost entirely in the private sector, but the regulatory and national security interests that govern deployment decisions are inherently public. The revolving door between Silicon Valley and Washington has accelerated in the AI era — and will continue to define how US AI policy is made, whoever holds the next equivalent of the czar title.

The administration has not announced a successor or indicated whether the AI czar role will be continued in its current form.