Treasury Secretary Bessent Emerges as Frontrunner for Trump's New AI Czar Role

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has become the leading candidate for the new "AI czar" post President Donald Trump said he would create, Semafor reported on September 22, 2026, citing three sources familiar with the matter. If he gets the job, the official who runs the nation's finances would also become the administration's main voice on artificial intelligence, at a time when the White House is fighting with parts of the industry over how fast frontier AI should move.

The report comes three days after Trump used a Truth Social post on Saturday, September 19, to announce an "AI force" and a new AI adviser. He gave few details on how either would be structured or when they would start. The post arrived in the middle of a heated debate over AI safety. Trump has called industry efforts to slow development a "conspiracy." Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has published an essay urging the industry to pace the frontier. And an antitrust suit now challenges the slowdown push itself. In his post, Trump wrote that "we will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry," adding that the government would look for "BAD" actors through "our already existing Criminal and Civil Justice System."

Semafor's Ashley Gold and Shelby Talcott reported that Trump has not made a final decision and noted that he is known to favor dark-horse candidates. Two other names are in the mix: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, described as a longtime Trump ally on technology, and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, who left the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz to join the government. Semafor also noted that National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross has been mentioned as a possible pick, and that he and Bessent clashed in May over Anthropic's Mythos model, as Politico reported at the time.

The White House pushed back on the report without denying it. "Any reporting about personnel decisions that have not been officially announced by the administration should be regarded as baseless speculation," White House spokesman Kush Desai told Semafor. The Treasury Department did not respond to Semafor's request for comment.

A Treasury Secretary Already Doing AI Diplomacy

Bessent's candidacy builds on work he is already doing. On Sunday, September 20, he met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The meeting came ahead of Trump's planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. According to Semafor and Benzinga, the two discussed a possible US-China "notification mechanism" that would let each government alert the other to AI incidents that threaten national security. Bessent described it as part of talks toward a formal bilateral dialogue on AI.

Semafor reported that Bessent became more involved in AI policy earlier this year, after financial institutions warned him that advanced AI systems could expose weaknesses in their infrastructure, including payment systems. In a CNBC "Squawk Box" interview on September 21, he described what the new role would be for. "When President Trump talked about appointing an AI czar, I think it is to put context, shape and contours around these questions, and they're very important," Bessent said. He added that he believes humans remain ultimately responsible for what AI systems do.

In the same appearance, Bessent criticized frontier developers who have sought legal protection from the government. "What did they try to do last week? It was, well there's a 10 percent chance that we destroy the world, but we want the government to give us a liability shield and that's good business for them, bad business for the American people," he said, according to a clip CNBC posted.

Holding a Cabinet post would not prevent Bessent from taking the job. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has served as the administration's "energy czar" while running Interior. The AI role has been vacant since venture capitalist David Sacks, the first person to hold it in Trump's second term, left in the spring for an outside advisory role. Sriram Krishnan, the White House's senior AI policy adviser, stepped down in June.

Why It Matters

Picking a Treasury secretary as AI czar would treat AI mainly as a question of economics, finance, and great-power competition, not as a science and technology portfolio. Both Kratsios and Kupor come from technology and venture capital backgrounds. Bessent would bring direct experience in negotiations with Beijing, along with a focus on the risks AI poses to the financial system.

His recent comments point to a clear position on the central fight of the moment. Some AI lab leaders are arguing for slower frontier development and some form of government backstop. Bessent's "liability shield" remarks suggest he would push back on shifting legal risk to taxpayers, while the White House's broader message suggests it will keep resisting anything that looks like an industry-coordinated slowdown. Supporters of that approach say existing law is enough to police bad actors. Critics warn that the government lacks tools built specifically for fast-moving frontier risks.

Doubling up roles also raises practical questions. Treasury already manages debt markets, sanctions, and a crowded trade agenda with China. Adding AI coordination across agencies would give one official unusual reach, but less time to spend on any single area.

What to Watch

The first thing to watch is the Trump-Xi meeting and whether it produces any agreement on an AI incident notification channel. That would be an early test of Bessent's approach. After that, attention turns to whether Trump formally names a czar, and whether he goes with Bessent, Kratsios, Kupor, or a surprise pick. It also remains unclear what the "AI force" will actually be, which agency will house it, and whether Congress will get a say. Finally, the pending antitrust litigation over the slowdown effort could shape how much room any new czar has to set the pace of frontier AI.