Trump's New Tech Panel: Zuckerberg, Huang, Ellison, Brin to Advise on AI Policy

A new White House advisory panel is set to bring together some of the most powerful figures in Silicon Valley to directly shape U.S. AI policy. The first four members of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) will be Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin, according to a report. The council's explicit mandate is to 'weigh in on AI policy,' signaling a concerted effort to align national strategy with the interests and expertise of leading tech executives.

The panel, which will start with 13 members and could expand to 24, will be co-chaired by Trump's AI and crypto czar David Sacks and White House tech advisor Michael Kratsios. This structure places significant influence over the council's direction in the hands of political appointees with close ties to the administration. The White House's January announcement stated PCAST will advise on matters involving 'science, technology, education, and innovation policy,' but the initial membership heavily skews toward corporate leadership from the AI hardware and platform sectors.

The formation of this panel concentrates immense informal policy-making power within a small, industry-dominant group. It raises immediate questions about regulatory capture, the balance between public interest and corporate profit in AI governance, and the potential sidelining of academic and civil society voices. The involvement of figures like Zuckerberg and Huang, whose companies are central to the AI infrastructure race, places them at the heart of discussions that could directly affect their multi-trillion-dollar market valuations and future regulatory landscapes.