Zenefits CEO David Sachs speaks at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, California.
Paul Chin | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
Venture investor and podcaster David Sachs to join Trump administration as “White House AI and crypto czar” President-elect Donald Trump announced Truth is about social Thursday.
Sachs will guide the administration’s policies for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, Trump wrote. Some of those tasks include creating a legal framework for crypto, as well as a President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
“David will focus on making America a clear global leader in both areas,” Trump wrote. “They protect free speech online and protect us from Big Tech bias and censorship.”
The hiring signals that the second Trump administration is rewarding Silicon Valley individuals who supported his campaign. This suggests that the administration will push for policies that cryptocurrency entrepreneurs generally support.
Sachs became a major Trump booster earlier this year, hosting a fundraiser for the then-Republican nominee at his San Francisco mansion. Tickets sold for $50,000 a head, with a range of $300,000, including perks like a photo with Trump.
It was a stark change of tone for Sachs, who had been sharply critical of Trump since the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. Trump is “obviously” responsible for these events, Sachs said on an episode of his All-In podcast. on January 6, and that he has “disqualified himself from being a candidate at the national level.”
In July, Sachs spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Sacks is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur who sold Yammer to Microsoft in 2012 for $1.2 billion. He is also associated with the “Paypal Mafia”, an unofficial club of prominent technology figures and investors, including Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, who worked at PayPal. In the 1990s.
In recent years, Sacks is best known for hosting the All-In podcast with fellow investors Chamat Palihapitia, Jason Calacanis and David Friedberg. In his post, Trump called it “the top podcast in tech, where he and his friends discuss economic, political and social issues.”
