Who Is David Sacks, Trump’s Newly Appointed ‘A.I. and Crypto Czar?’
David Sacks, a venture capitalist with close ties to Elon Musk, has been appointed “A.I. and Crypto Czar,” of the incoming Trump administration, President-elect Donald Trump announced in a post yesterday (Dec. 5) on his social media platform, Truth Social. In this newly created role, Sacks “will safeguard Free Speech online and steer us away from the Big Tech bias and censorship,” Trump said in the post, adding that Sacks will be working “on a legal framework so the crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the U.S.,” the post said. Sacks will also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology, according to Trump.
Sacks, 52, was born in South Africa but grew up in the U.S., where he studied economics at Stanford University before receiving a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago’s law school. He acted as PayPal’s chief operating officer between 1999 and 2002, making him a member of the so-called “PayPal Mafia” that notably includes the Musk and Peter Thiel.
After producing the 2005 Hollywood film Thank You for Smoking, Sacks went on to found Yammer, an enterprise social networking service acquired by Microsoft (MSFT) in 2012 later for $1.2 billion. He is currently a partner at the venture capital firm Craft Ventures, which has invested in the likes of AirBnb (ABNB), Palantir, Reddit (RDDT) and Musk-led companies like SpaceX and Neuralink.
Sacks was one of the investors who helped Musk complete his $44 billion acquisition of X in 2022. He also reportedly frequently provided Musk with advice via text throughout the deal.
How much power will Sacks and Musk have as government employees?
Sacks’ A.I. and Crypto Czar position parallels Musk’s recent appointment as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in its seemingly advisory nature. Both figures will act as special government employees, meaning they can serve a maximum of 130 days per year and must be recused from certain matters to avoid conflicts of interest.
During a November episode of his All-In podcast, Sacks said his “key man” role at Craft would prevent him from taking on a full-time role in the Trump administration but said that accepting a part-time or advisory position would be a “no-brainer.”
Trump has been a vocal proponent of less stringent tech restrictions on A.I. and cryptocurrency. Besides urging for a rollback of the Biden administration’s A.I. executive order, which the Republican party has described as hindering “A.I. innovation,” he has positioned the incoming administration as one that will be crypto-friendly and reform regulations of the digital currency.
“I am honored and grateful for the trust you have placed in me,” Sacks said in a response to the President-elect’s Truth Social announcement. “I look forward to advancing American competitiveness in these critical technologies.” Earlier this year, Sacks cohosted a fundraising event for Trump at his San Francisco home.
The growing influence of Musk and his allies within the U.S. government has raised concerns about how the billionaire’s tech rivals, such as OpenAI, could be impacted. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, publicly congratulated Sacks on his appointment and earlier this week said he doesn’t think Musk will abuse his political power to harm competitors as it would be “profoundly un-American.” In a post on X today, Musk appeared to agree with the OpenAI head’s comments.