Some More Scary S**t
Inside the White House Tussle to Sway Trump on AI
Wall Street Journal
Sep-17-2026
After White House artificial-intelligence adviser David Sacks got President Trump to scrap a planned executive order in May that would subject AI models to an extended government review, senior administration officials including Scott Bessent and Susie Wiles were caught off guard and unhappy.
Wiles, the White House chief of staff, told others that Sacks had persuaded Trump to do so in a last-minute call, people familiar with the matter said. Bessent, the treasury secretary, worried that AI-led cyberattacks could wreak havoc on the nation’s banking system, the people said. A White House team had spent months negotiating to increase oversight of AI and had consulted a range of industry executives on the order.
At the urging of Wiles and Bessent, the president later signed a slimmed-down version of the order.
Even as Trump dismisses calls for tighter federal regulation of the industry, the quiet freakout among some of his most senior aides over what could be one of the administration’s most consequential policy decisions has begun.
In the months since the dispute, Wiles, Bessent and other officials have gathered almost daily to discuss risks in the sector and consider potential guardrails, the people said, while trying to persuade Trump to take a more hands-on approach. White House officials have regularly held calls with executives including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and executives at Anthropic to discuss concerns.
The divide among Trump’s AI advisers—both inside and outside the government—continued in the weeks that followed, with Wiles, Bessent and National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross often pushing for more government scrutiny. Sacks, a venture capitalist, Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang are among those frequently urging the president to continue taking a light touch—an approach that appears to be winning the day.
Zuckerberg, Huang and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently spoke to Trump about their concerns with one plan for an industry-funded regulator, and successfully stalled the plan, people familiar with the matter said.
Sacks has become a particular point of friction for some White House officials.
He advocated for limited government involvement in AI in his initial role as the administration’s AI and crypto czar. Some administration officials privately researched Sacks’s businesses to see if the venture investor could personally profit by blocking regulations.
Sacks held his initial role as a special government employee, which meant the Office of Government Ethics required his venture firm to divest some, but not all, of its AI holdings. His firm’s multibillion-dollar portfolio includes stakes in Musk’s SpaceX and many AI startups. Sacks previously invested in Zuckerberg’s Meta, as well as Palantir and Airbnb.
He left his czar role in March to be co-chair of a White House tech advisory council. In the past six months, other administration officials have grown concerned about how far the technology has come, and how little the administration initially did to scrutinize it, people familiar with the matter said.
Sacks’s power was on display again this week, when Trump declared Monday that the only AI regulation the U.S. needs was a “strong and smart president,” following a call from lawmakers and some AI CEOs for a coordinated slowdown of model development to prevent cyberattacks or other disasters.
Hours later, Trump called in to an “All-In” event hosted by the tech podcast that Sacks co-hosts. Sacks was on stage with Huang at a live taping, when Huang, clad in his usual black leather jacket, took the call.
Huang praised Trump’s earlier comments, then put him on speaker. “The robots will not be taking over. The AI will not be taking over the rest of the world,” Trump said.
Sacks is also an attorney.
Wall Street Journal
Sep-17-2026
After White House artificial-intelligence adviser David Sacks got President Trump to scrap a planned executive order in May that would subject AI models to an extended government review, senior administration officials including Scott Bessent and Susie Wiles were caught off guard and unhappy.
Wiles, the White House chief of staff, told others that Sacks had persuaded Trump to do so in a last-minute call, people familiar with the matter said. Bessent, the treasury secretary, worried that AI-led cyberattacks could wreak havoc on the nation’s banking system, the people said. A White House team had spent months negotiating to increase oversight of AI and had consulted a range of industry executives on the order.
At the urging of Wiles and Bessent, the president later signed a slimmed-down version of the order.
Even as Trump dismisses calls for tighter federal regulation of the industry, the quiet freakout among some of his most senior aides over what could be one of the administration’s most consequential policy decisions has begun.
In the months since the dispute, Wiles, Bessent and other officials have gathered almost daily to discuss risks in the sector and consider potential guardrails, the people said, while trying to persuade Trump to take a more hands-on approach. White House officials have regularly held calls with executives including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and executives at Anthropic to discuss concerns.
The divide among Trump’s AI advisers—both inside and outside the government—continued in the weeks that followed, with Wiles, Bessent and National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross often pushing for more government scrutiny. Sacks, a venture capitalist, Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang are among those frequently urging the president to continue taking a light touch—an approach that appears to be winning the day.
Zuckerberg, Huang and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently spoke to Trump about their concerns with one plan for an industry-funded regulator, and successfully stalled the plan, people familiar with the matter said.
Sacks has become a particular point of friction for some White House officials.
He advocated for limited government involvement in AI in his initial role as the administration’s AI and crypto czar. Some administration officials privately researched Sacks’s businesses to see if the venture investor could personally profit by blocking regulations.
Sacks held his initial role as a special government employee, which meant the Office of Government Ethics required his venture firm to divest some, but not all, of its AI holdings. His firm’s multibillion-dollar portfolio includes stakes in Musk’s SpaceX and many AI startups. Sacks previously invested in Zuckerberg’s Meta, as well as Palantir and Airbnb.
He left his czar role in March to be co-chair of a White House tech advisory council. In the past six months, other administration officials have grown concerned about how far the technology has come, and how little the administration initially did to scrutinize it, people familiar with the matter said.
Sacks’s power was on display again this week, when Trump declared Monday that the only AI regulation the U.S. needs was a “strong and smart president,” following a call from lawmakers and some AI CEOs for a coordinated slowdown of model development to prevent cyberattacks or other disasters.
Hours later, Trump called in to an “All-In” event hosted by the tech podcast that Sacks co-hosts. Sacks was on stage with Huang at a live taping, when Huang, clad in his usual black leather jacket, took the call.
Huang praised Trump’s earlier comments, then put him on speaker. “The robots will not be taking over. The AI will not be taking over the rest of the world,” Trump said.
Sacks is also an attorney.
