Will David Sacks move from White House crypto czar to science advisory panel?

After months as a central figure in Washington’s tech debate, david sacks is shifting from his high-profile czar position to a long-term advisory post at the White House.

David Sacks exits White House crypto and AI czar role

David Sacks, long described as the White House’s AI and crypto czar, confirmed Thursday that he is leaving that position to become co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, known as PCAST.

Sacks was originally appointed as czar for cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence by President Donald Trump before Trump returned to office last January. During that period, he oversaw the administration’s early push on digital assets and AI policy.

In particular, he played a visible role in the White House’s work around the passage of the GENIUS Act, legislation focused on stablecoins, and more recently helped coordinate internal efforts related to the emerging crypto market structure bill in Congress.

Shift to the President’s top science advisory council

Announcing his new role on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Sacks said he will co-chair PCAST, which serves as the President’s primary external advisory body on science and technology.

“PCAST is the principal external advisory body tasked with defining policy on science, technology and innovation for the President and the White House,” he wrote. Moreover, he stressed that “thirteen of the world’s foremost leaders in science and technology” will serve as the council’s initial members.

Sacks told Bloomberg last Thursday that his outgoing czar position had been classified as a “special government employee” slot. Under federal rules, that status limited him to only 130 working days in the job, a threshold Democrats in Congress argued he had already exceeded last fall.

However, he will not face the same time restriction as co-chair of the advisory council, which is structured as an ongoing, longer-term body for high-level scientific and technological guidance.

Policy agenda: AI, quantum computing and advanced technologies

In the Bloomberg interview, Sacks said the council will issue formal policy recommendations and lead studies on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, nuclear energy and other “cutting-edge technologies” central to U.S. innovation strategy.

He added that the group aims to advance the president’s AI framework, which the White House published last week, signaling that david sacks will remain deeply engaged in AI policy despite leaving his czar portfolio.

“I think you can expect from us some recommendations in these areas,” Sacks said. “We want to advance the president’s AI framework, which was published last week. So you’ll see, I think, a lot of activity on that front. But there will be other areas involved as well.”

That said, he did not reference cryptocurrency during that Bloomberg discussion, even though he previously oversaw several crypto-related initiatives from the West Wing.

High-profile tech leaders on the PCAST roster

Alongside Sacks, the new PCAST lineup features some of the most prominent figures in Silicon Valley and global technology. The White House confirmed that Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen and Google co-founder Sergey Brin will serve on the panel.

Other members include Dell founder Michael Dell, early Coinbase investor Fred Ehrsam, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, among others. Together, they bring direct experience across chips, cloud infrastructure, social media and digital assets.

Michael Kratsios, who served in both Trump administrations in senior technology roles, will join Sacks as co-chair of the council, further reinforcing the panel’s ties to earlier White House innovation agendas.

With this move, Sacks transitions from an operational White House advisor position into a strategic role on science and technology policy, keeping him at the center of U.S. debates over AI, quantum research and advanced computing as the administration refines its long-term innovation strategy.