Trump's AI Czar: Why the Treasury Secretary?

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Trump's AI Czar: Why the Treasury Secretary.

Imagine the world's most powerful economic nation bundling its entire AI strategy in a single hand – and that hand belonging to the very man who otherwise watches over billion-dollar budgets and tariff policy. That's exactly what's shaping up in Washington: US President Donald Trump is apparently planning to hand over US AI policy to a single commissioner. The candidate most frequently mentioned is his own Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

So far, this is a personnel assumption, not a confirmed appointment. The information comes from a report by the US online magazine Semafor, picked up by the tech portal Golem. According to it, Bessent is considered the favorite in Trump's circle for the position of a so-called "AI Czar" – a central commissioner who is to coordinate the government's AI agenda going forward.

Who is Scott Bessent?

Bessent has been US Treasury Secretary since Trump took office and is traditionally responsible for the budget, tax policy, and international financial relations. In US politics, the Treasury post is one of the most influential positions of all – comparable to the power of Germany's Federal Finance Minister, but with significantly greater international weight. That this very person is supposed to additionally bundle the government's AI policy is unusual.

What does Semafor say – and what doesn't it?

The Semafor report that Golem refers to speaks so far of a favorite role for Bessent – not of a fixed decision. Open questions that neither Semafor nor Golem resolve in the available excerpt:

• Who decides finally – Trump alone or with advisors?
• When is the position to be officially announced?
• How exactly will the mandate be delineated between the Treasury and the AI commissioner?
• Which existing initiatives – for example on AI regulation, export controls, or data centers – would fall under the new office?

What can be established from the source so far: within Trump's circle, Bessent is currently being traded as the most likely pick for this new post.

What would be unusual about the appointment?

In the US, the role of an AI commissioner has historically been given to tech-savvy individuals or prominent regulators – not to the top financial politician. A consolidation under the Treasury Secretary would mean that AI policy would be more strongly linked than before to competitiveness, investment control, and export controls – topics that already land on Bessent's desk.

What's still missing

What the reporting currently doesn't deliver: an official confirmation from the White House, a timeline for the appointment, or a description of the exact task profile. Without this information, the assessment remains preliminary – a favorite is not yet a designated commissioner.

In other words: anyone who currently wants to know who will set the AI course in Washington going forward should best watch the next official personnel decisions from the Trump circle – and read in parallel how Semafor and other US tech media continue to comment on it.