A source familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Tuesday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could become President Donald Trump’s new AI czar, as lawmakers in Washington grow more concerned about the risks posed by AI technology.
The possible appointment was first reported by Semafor. A second source told Reuters that no decision had been made. The Treasury Department had no immediate comment on Bessent’s possible new role.
On Saturday, Trump said he plans to appoint an artificial intelligence adviser known as an “AI czar” and create an “AI force,” without providing details about either initiative or how they would be implemented. Trump has repeatedly downplayed concerns about AI and argued that additional regulation is unnecessary, Reuters reported.
The speculation lands in the same week Bessent led Sunday talks in New York with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng ahead of a Thursday Washington summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping — talks that focused heavily on AI. After those meetings Bessent told reporters that Washington had proposed an AI safety notification mechanism and a U.S.–China AI dialogue with a national-security emphasis; AI Tech Daily covered that proposal track separately.
Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, already carries several other administration assignments spanning a major trade-policy revamp, temporary leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the acting IRS commissioner role, while Treasury presses Iran sanctions — a portfolio that would sit alongside any AI-adviser brief rather than define this wire. Reuters framed the AI-czar talk against rising congressional concern about AI risks even as the White House continues to resist a broader regulatory push.
This brief covers the attributed source reporting on a possible AI czar appointment. It is not a confirmed nomination, and it is distinct from Trump’s UN General Assembly remarks renaming AI "super intelligence" in official communications and from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s still-advance UN Security Council briefing track.