Trump announces Super Intelligence Force led by Clayton

President Donald Trump said Sunday he is forming a Super Intelligence Force to coordinate federal work on advanced AI, with Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton among its leaders. The announcement came in a Truth Social post after last week's White House meeting with major AI company chiefs.

Who leads it: Trump named Clayton, Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson, Emil Michael (the Pentagon's under secretary for research and engineering and chief technology officer), and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor as leaders. The group will report to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, those outlets said. The Washington Examiner also reported that Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, venture capitalist David Sacks, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would be included; CBS, CNN, ABC, and Fox did not list those four in the accounts reviewed.

Policy backdrop: The move follows Tuesday's White House summit where AI executives signed voluntary safety commitments Trump has called "morally binding." Fox News said Trump earlier directed the executive branch to use the term "super intelligence" instead of artificial intelligence. OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei have urged stronger federal guardrails on frontier models. ABC News said the Sunday announcement was thin on specific oversight powers and that the White House did not immediately answer a request for more detail on objectives.

What Clayton said Saturday: Before the presidential post, Clayton told The Wall Street Journal he would lead the force and that "the risk of not being first is high," CNBC and ABC reported. The Journal account, relayed Saturday, said the group had 120 days to study AI risks and opportunities and review existing law and possible congressional steps without new rules that would curb innovation.

Who Clayton is: He chaired the SEC in Trump's first term, served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and was confirmed as DNI in July. David Sacks held the prior AI and crypto czar role until March 2026.

Sun Oct 4 ~10:58 AM PT hourly update. Primary: Trump Truth Social announcement Sunday Oct 4, as reported by CBS News (Kaia Hubbard, 9:25 AM EDT), CNN (Julia Benbrook), ABC News (Emily Chang), Fox News (Stephen Sorace), and Washington Examiner (Claire Carter). Confirms and expands Saturday WSJ exclusive that Clayton would chair the force. Named co-leaders Ferguson, Michael, Kupor and reporting line to Trump/Wiles are consistent across CBS/CNN/ABC/Examiner. Washington Examiner also listed Vance, Bessent, Sacks, and Condoleezza Rice as included; that wider roster was not repeated in CBS/CNN/ABC/Fox accounts reviewed, so it is noted only as Examiner reporting. Fox alone described a prior executive order renaming AI to Super Intelligence across the executive branch. ABC said a White House request for more detail on objectives did not immediately get a response and called the announcement thin on specific oversight. Prior WSJ 120-day report / charter detail remains from Saturday accounts (CNBC/Reuters). Re-check 11:10 AM PT Oct 4: added POLITICO/The Hill; Michael title clarified. Replace in place; Politics stays 8.