Trump Hands AI To America’s Spy Chief

Donald Trump speaks at a meeting table beside Marco Rubio — Photo: Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock

President Trump put the nation’s top spy in charge of steering the government’s response to artificial intelligence.

Story Snapshot

Trump named Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to lead a new federal AI task force, dubbed by some reports the “Super Intelligence Force.”
The group also includes Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael, and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor.
The task force reports directly to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Clayton has been told to deliver a report on AI’s risks and opportunities within 120 days.
Clayton will keep his job as Director of National Intelligence while taking on this new role.

Spy Chief Gets a Second Job

Trump announced Sunday that Jay Clayton, his Director of National Intelligence, will lead a new government task force on artificial intelligence. The Associated Press and CNN both reported the news, quoting Trump’s statement that the task force will coordinate the federal government’s response to AI. Reuters, Politico, CBS News, Fox News, and Bloomberg Law all confirmed the appointment within a day of each other.

News outlets use different names for the group. Some call it simply a federal AI task force. Others, citing reporting from The Wall Street Journal, call it the “Super Intelligence Force.” Fox News and CBS News both used that name in their coverage. The shifting labels suggest this may still be an evolving branding effort rather than a settled government office.

Who Sits on the Panel

The task force is not a one-man show. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael, and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor will also serve on the group, according to multiple outlets. That mix pulls in consumer protection, military technology, and federal workforce policy, pointing to a broad mandate that touches several parts of the government at once.

The task force answers straight to the top. Both AP and CNN reported that the group reports directly to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, keeping oversight tightly inside the West Wing rather than spreading it across federal agencies. Trump said the group will also reach out to consumers, public-interest groups, religious organizations, and companies building AI tools, according to CBS News.

A 120-Day Clock Starts Ticking

Reuters reported the task force must deliver a report within 120 days examining AI’s risks and benefits, and recommending what role the federal government should play in overseeing the technology. The New York Post also cited the 120-day deadline, though not every outlet repeated that exact timeframe, leaving some uncertainty about whether it is a hard deadline or a target.

Trump taps spy chief Jay Clayton to lead a new AI task force, the "Super Intelligence Force."

FTC chair Andrew Ferguson, Pentagon CTO Emil Michael and OPM's Scott Kupor join.

Why it matters: the US now has an AI czar, but still no binding AI rules.https://t.co/gWsrJlSAN8

— Wire Desk (@WireDeskAI) October 5, 2026

Bloomberg Law reported the move comes amid growing public worry about AI safety, framing the task force as a response to those fears rather than a push for faster AI growth alone. That framing puts the administration in a middle position: moving fast enough to look responsive, while stopping short of announcing hard new rules on AI companies.

Why This Kind of Move Is Common

Setting up a task force before writing new laws is a well-worn move in Washington. Congress ran a similar bipartisan AI task force in 2024, and most U.S. states have done the same before passing any AI rules of their own. Task forces let officials gather information and signal action quickly, without committing to a full regulatory system right away.

For Clayton, the new assignment raises a practical question that has not been fully answered in public reporting: how he will balance leading intelligence operations with steering AI policy at the same time. No signed appointment memo, executive order text, or formal charter for the task force has been made public in the reporting gathered so far, so the exact powers and legal footing of the new group remain to be spelled out.

For a country already uneasy about unelected officials shaping major decisions behind closed doors, handing a sitting intelligence chief a second, high-profile job over a technology as consequential as AI is likely to draw attention from both ends of the political spectrum. Whether the task force becomes a serious check on AI risks or mostly a messaging exercise will depend on what Clayton’s team delivers when that 120-day clock runs out.