Trump wants the US to create an AI action plan in 180 days, and former PayPal mafia member David Sacks is among those leading the push
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- President Donald Trump signed an executive order on AI development on Thursday.
- Trump's AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, said the US wants to become the world's AI capital.
- Earlier this week, Trump announced Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment project.
President Donald Trump wants his administration to have an action plan for artificial intelligence ready within 180 days.
On Thursday, the president signed an executive order calling for the US "to sustain and enhance America's global AI dominance." Since returning to the White House on Monday, Trump has signed multiple executive orders on areas including energy, trade, and immigration.
"We're basically announcing the administration's policy to make America the world capital in artificial intelligence and to dominate and to lead the world in AI," Trump's AI and cryptocurrency czar, David Sacks, told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Trump appointed Sacks, a venture capitalist and former PayPal COO, to the newly created position last month. When announcing his appointment, Trump said Sacks would also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology.
Sacks is a member of a group known as the "PayPal Mafia" — a group of PayPal employees who went on to become big names in the world of tech and venture capital. Besides Sacks, the group counts Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
"David is one of the greatest in the world at AI, most respected probably there is," Trump told reporters on Thursday while signing the order.
Trump has ordered that "certain existing AI policies and directives that act as barriers to American AI innovation" be revoked — though the document did not specify which policies would be rolled back.
Trump's order also requests that existing regulations on AI be reviewed. Policies inconsistent with Trump's latest directive will be suspended or revised per the order.
In October 2023, then-President Joe Biden signed an expansive executive order on AI. The order, which Trump revoked on Monday, demanded greater transparency from companies developing AI tools.
Representatives for Trump did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
AI has figured prominently in Trump's first week in office.
On Tuesday, Trump announced Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment project. The new company is a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank.
The president said that Stargate would create "over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately."
"What we want to do is we want to keep it in this country. China is a competitor, others are competitors. We want it to be in this country, and we are making it available," Trump said while announcing Stargate on Tuesday.
"I am gonna help a lot through emergency declarations, because we have an emergency, we have to get this stuff built," he added.