How Trump’s Tech Advisory Council Became the Most Powerful Unelected Body in America

Certain types of power don’t make their presence known. It doesn’t hold a press conference, run for office, or receive Senate confirmation. It just appears—in the appropriate space, at the appropriate moment, and in the appropriate person’s ear. When President Trump announced the most recent version of his President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in March of last year, the roster resembled the guest list at a private summit in Davos rather than a government agency.

Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg. Ellison, Larry. Brin, Sergey. Andreessen, Marc. These aren’t obscure technocrats. These are some of the richest and most powerful people in the history of private industry, and they currently serve on a body that speaks directly to the president about technology policy, artificial intelligence, and the future of the American economy. PCAST is officially advisory. It generates reports. It offers suggestions. On paper, it has no authority to enforce or regulate anything. However, it seems, to put it mildly, a little naive to think that this group of industry titans is just writing memos that sit unread on a shelf somewhere.

Trump’s Tech Advisory Council (PCAST) — Key facts

Since Franklin Roosevelt, the council has existed in one form or another, alternating between engineers, scientists, and occasionally business leaders. The ratio is now different. Nine of the thirteen members of Trump’s current panel are reportedly tech billionaires. The single anomaly? a physicist. There may have been councils in the past that favored business, but nothing quite like this. The distinction between corporate interest and national science policy seems to have become much more hazy.

What this arrangement says about how power is actually used in Washington at the moment is what makes it truly fascinating and worthwhile to watch. After a chilly first term with Silicon Valley, Trump returned to the White House and has cultivated these relationships with unprecedented intensity over the past year. For its part, the tech sector has mostly reciprocated the love. Zuckerberg’s own declaration that the United States has a “opportunity to lead the world in AI” upon joining the council sounded more like a corporate press release than a statement of civic responsibility. which might actually be the point.

Michael Kratsios, a tech investor who was the nation’s chief technology officer during Trump’s first term, and David Sacks, Trump’s AI and cryptocurrency advisor, co-chair the council. Both men move between the worlds of venture capital and government with ease. The precise amount of the council’s work that directly influences policy is still unknown; this chain of influence is infamously difficult to track. However, the fact that Elon Musk and Sam Altman—possibly two of the most influential AI figures alive—were completely omitted from the list begs the question of whose vision of the future is being emphasized here.

According to recent surveys, Americans are becoming more uncomfortable. The public’s apprehension about AI is growing rather than decreasing, and the majority feel that Big Tech already has too much power in Washington. The optics of leading with a council full of billionaires, despite their official lack of authority, are a story in and of themselves as Trump prepares for the November midterm elections. It remains to be seen if the White House determines that the advantages of those connections outweigh the appearances, or if that political liability ultimately changes the makeup of the council. The most powerful unelected body in America is currently accepting new members.