The Pulse
Trump Proposes ‘AI Force’ and New AI Czar
President Donald Trump says artificial intelligence could account for as much as 25% of U.S. GDP as he proposes an AI Force modeled on the Space Force. Trump also plans to appoint a new AI czar while offering few details about the initiativ
AI.info Team ·
Artificial intelligence could eventually account for as much as 25% of U.S. gross domestic product, President Donald Trump said Saturday as he announced plans for an “AI Force” and a new White House AI czar.
Trump offered few operational details. His proposal would create an organization modeled on the Space Force, the military branch established by Congress during his first term, but he did not say whether the AI Force would sit inside the White House, a cabinet agency or another part of the federal government. No budget, staffing plan or legal authority has been announced.
The announcement came in a lengthy post on Truth Social as Trump continues to reject calls for tougher federal controls on advanced AI. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Reuters and Axios.
Trump’s proposal leaves the AI Force undefined
Trump said the new force would protect the industry while identifying harmful uses through existing criminal and civil law. He wrote that the government would not “hinder or stifle” AI’s growth, but would look for what he called “BAD” behavior.
“We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry.”
Donald Trump, president of the United States, in a September 19 Truth Social post
The plan appears to be an administrative initiative rather than a new military service. Trump’s comparison with the Space Force supplies a name and a model, but the announcement does not establish a command structure or assign responsibility for enforcement, research funding, infrastructure or safety evaluations.
Axios reported that Trump’s post did not explain what the AI Force would do in practice, where it would be housed or how much it would cost. Those unanswered questions will determine whether the proposal becomes a coordinating office, a regulatory body or a political label for existing federal programs.
A czar role returns after David Sacks’ departure
Trump also said he would soon appoint an AI czar, reviving a position that became vacant after David Sacks’ formal term as the White House AI and crypto czar ended in March 2026.
Trump appointed Sacks to the combined role in December 2024. Sacks has continued to influence the administration’s technology policy as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, but Saturday’s announcement indicates that Trump wants a designated official focused on AI again.
The new czar’s responsibilities are not yet clear. Trump’s post frames the job around expanding American AI development and responding to harmful conduct through existing law, rather than creating a new safety regulator.
The announcement follows a fight over AI safety
Trump’s proposal arrives after several prominent technology leaders called for a slower approach to advanced AI. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis have all warned that increasingly capable systems could create serious risks.
Trump has dismissed those warnings. In recent statements, he has called fears that AI could destroy humanity a “hoax” and argued that the technology needs a strong and intelligent president rather than a new system of federal guardrails.
The administration’s position contrasts with public polling cited by Axios. A New York Times-Siena poll of 1,503 likely voters found that 61% opposed building data centers to power AI, including 47% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats. An AP-NORC-University of Chicago poll found that 53% of respondents were highly concerned about AI’s environmental impact.
AI policy now intersects with U.S.-China competition
Trump’s announcement also places AI policy in the context of competition with China. U.S. officials are preparing to discuss artificial intelligence with Chinese officials as Trump plans to meet President Xi Jinping the following week.
Washington and Beijing are competing over advanced chips, access to computing infrastructure and the military uses of AI. Trump’s post presents faster development as an economic and national priority, while offering no new mechanism for resolving disputes over safety, data-center power demand or accountability when AI systems cause harm.
For now, the AI Force exists only as a presidential proposal and the next AI czar has not been named. The administration still has to define the office, identify its legal authority and explain how it would differ from the agencies and advisers already handling artificial intelligence.