Trump Taps Jay Clayton, the SEC Chair Who Sued Ripple, to Lead AI Push

In short

President Trump introduced a “Tremendous Intelligence Pressure” to coordinate federal AI coverage, with Director of Nationwide Intelligence Jay Clayton extensively reported as its chief and the administration’s new AI czar.
As SEC chair in Trump’s first time period, Clayton introduced 57 crypto instances and sued Ripple over XRP in one in all his remaining acts.
Clayton later suggested crypto companies, then oversaw the prosecution of Twister Money developer Roman Storm as interim U.S. legal professional in Manhattan.

The person who began the SEC’s crackdown on crypto is now steering Washington’s strategy to synthetic intelligence.

President Donald Trump introduced on Reality Social on Sunday the creation of a “Tremendous Intelligence Pressure,” a job power charged with coordinating the federal authorities’s effort to maintain the U.S. forward in AI.

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“Tremendous Intelligence” is Trump’s most popular time period for the expertise. Director of Nationwide Intelligence Jay Clayton is first among the many power’s listed leaders and has been extensively reported because the administration’s new AI czar.

The group will coordinate federal engagement with shoppers, public curiosity teams, non secular organizations, essential infrastructure suppliers and AI corporations, Trump wrote. Becoming a member of Clayton are Federal Commerce Fee Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Underneath Secretary of Warfare for Analysis and Engineering Emil Michael and Workplace of Personnel Administration Director Scott Kupor. The power will report back to Trump and White Home chief of workers Susie Wiles.

The announcement follows what Trump known as the “Historic White House Accord on Super Intelligence,” through which main tech corporations “confirmed their duties to the American Individuals,” he wrote. AI firm leaders met with Trump on the White Home final week.

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For crypto, Clayton is a well-known and polarizing identify. As SEC chair throughout Trump’s first time period, he set in movement the company’s regulation-by-enforcement strategy. He introduced 57 instances towards crypto companies, ICOs and different blockchain tasks, a tally he touted on his approach out of the company.

His most consequential crypto transfer got here on the very finish. In December 2020, in one in all his remaining acts as chair, Clayton’s SEC sued Ripple for $1.3 billion, alleging the corporate bought XRP as an unregistered security. The case grew to become a template for most of the lawsuits Gary Gensler’s SEC later brought towards main token issuers and exchanges.

Clayton’s crypto file has zigzagged since. After leaving the SEC, he joined One River Asset Management as a crypto adviser in 2021, and likewise sat on the advisory board of crypto custodian Fireblocks.

Trump first tried to put Clayton atop the U.S. legal professional’s workplace in Manhattan in 2020, whereas he nonetheless led the SEC. In 2025, he put in Clayton as interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. There, Clayton’s workplace pushed ahead with the prosecution of Twister Money developer Roman Storm.

Trump’s put up did not spell out the Tremendous Intelligence Pressure’s mandate or timeline.