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U.S. President Donald Trump announced the establishment of a "super intelligent" task force to coordinate federal-level AI policies. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton is widely reported to be the head of this task force and also the new AI supervisor of the government.
As the chairman during Trump's first term, Clayton initiated 57 crypto-related cases and, in the final stages of his tenure, sued Ripple for selling what were alleged to be unregistered securities.
Clyton later provided consulting services for encryption companies, and during his tenure as a temporary federal prosecutor in Manhattan, he oversaw the prosecution of Roman Storm, the developer of Tornado Cash.
The same person who once launched the campaign against the crypto industry with the label SEC is now guiding Washington's approach to artificial intelligence.
Trump's preferred term for this technology is “Super Intelligence”. According to Trump, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton is listed first among the leaders of this working group and is widely reported to be the new AI in charge of the government.
Trump wrote that the working group will coordinate the contact between federal agencies and consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, providers of critical infrastructure, as well as AI companies. Joining Clayton are also Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Emil Michael, Deputy Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and Scott Kupper, Director of the Office of Personnel Management. The working group will report to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
This announcement follows Trump's so-called "historic White House Super Intelligence Agreement." Trump wrote that under this agreement, major tech companies "confirmed their responsibilities to the American people." Last week, executives from AI met with Trump at the White House.
For the crypto industry, Clayton is a familiar and somewhat controversial name. As the chairman during Trump's first term, he promoted the practice of "enforcement instead of regulation" within that institution. He filed 57 cases against crypto companies, token issuers, and other blockchain projects, and took pride in that number upon his departure from office.
His most significant encryption-related move occurred in the final stages of his tenure. In December 2020, as one of his last actions as chairman, the SEC under Clayton filed a lawsuit against Ripple, claiming $1.3 billion, accusing the company of selling XRP as unregistered securities. This case later became a template for multiple lawsuits filed by the SEC under Gary Gensler against major token issuers and exchanges.
Clyton's background in cryptography has appeared repeatedly since then. After leaving SEC, he joined One River Asset Management in 2021 to serve as a crypto consultant and also held a position on the advisory board of the crypto custody firm Fireblocks.
Trump first attempted to appoint Clayton as the head of the Manhattan Federal Prosecutor's Office in 2020, at a time when he was still leading SEC. In 2025, Trump appointed Clayton as the interim federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York. There, Clayton's office continued to pursue prosecutions against the developer of Tornado Cash, Roman Storm.
Trump's post did not specify the scope of responsibilities or timeline for this "super intelligent" task force.
