Radical Silicon Valley Voice or Regulatory Pusher? Inside Trump's AI "Lobbyist" David Sacks

Overview

Despite bipartisan calls from U.S. lawmakers to regulate powerful artificial intelligence models, President Donald Trump remains opposed. He has repeatedly dismissed the potential dangers of AI as a “hoax,” arguing that the government already possesses sufficient regulatory authority. This stance sharply contrasts with that of his former advisors and certain mainstream voices within the Republican Party, yet aligns closely with the views of David Sacks, Trump’s AI “lobbyist.” As a representative figure of Silicon Valley’s radical wing, Sacks has profoundly influenced the White House’s AI policy direction behind the scenes, driving a series of executive measures that weaken federal and state-level regulatory constraints.

Sacks’s Regulatory Influence

David Sacks is regarded by outsiders as Trump’s key advisor in the field of AI. A prominent venture capitalist and billionaire, he firmly believes that regulation will undermine America’s leading position in the global AI race. Since Trump signed an executive order last December halting state laws that restrict AI, Sacks has been assigned a pivotal role in guiding a federal working group to challenge state regulations. In March this year, the White House’s AI policy proposal to Congress again encouraged preemption of state-level rules, with Sacks alleged to have played a significant behind-the-scenes role.

“David Sacks advising President Trump on AI is precisely how our political system serves the wealthy and well-connected, not everyday Americans.” — Isabel Sunderland, Director of Technology Reform Policy at Issue One

This close relationship was starkly exposed in recent events. While Trump was speaking with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang about AI regulation, Sacks was simultaneously interviewing Huang at the same event, a scene that directly revealed the extent of Sacks’s access to the highest echelons of U.S. power. Additionally, during next week’s visit to the United States by Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Trump’s invitation, Sacks was also among the invited AI CEO guests.

Fierce Opposition to “AI Doomsday” Predictions

Recently, the resignation announcement by Anthropic employee Jacob Cohn on social media, along with his warning that AI could lead to human extinction before 2030, triggered a new wave of regulatory anxiety across global politics and media. Leaders of tech giants such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and xAI unusually voiced public support for industry regulation to ensure safety.

However, Sacks launched a fierce attack on these “doomsday prophecies.” He dismissively labeled requirements for third-party evaluations as “pseudoscience” and “censorship and control,” and hinted that Anthropic founder Dario Amodei’s proposal was an “electoral-season psychological operation” aimed at establishing industry monopoly through regulatory capture. Meanwhile, over 100 AI researchers and professors signed an open letter calling for the establishment of third-party assessment mechanisms, which Sacks directly refuted on social media, claiming that these groups have not earned public trust and that their agenda is not for the safety of the general public.