Trump announces a federal ‘Super Intelligence Force’ chaired by Jay Clayton

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday, 4 October 2026, that he has formed a Super Intelligence Force, a federal body to coordinate government work on artificial intelligence. He posted the announcement on his social network Truth Social, and TechCrunch reported it the same day.

What was announced

Trump wrote that the new body is tasked with coordinating federal efforts “to ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence.” He said it would be led by Jay Clayton, whom TechCrunch identified as national intelligence director, together with other members of his administration.

According to The Wall Street Journal, as reported by TechCrunch:

• Clayton will chair the body, which effectively makes him the administration’s top AI official.
• The vice chairs are Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor.
• The group reportedly has 120 days to produce a report on the risks and opportunities of AI.
• Its charter reportedly says it will plan responses to “SI-enabled threats” while preventing overregulation and regulatory capture that could stifle innovation and competition.

Clayton told the WSJ that one of the biggest risks for the United States is “not being first” — in line with his earlier argument that the country should not pull back from AI while rivals such as China advance.

Context

The announcement follows a week of high-profile AI safety events. In September Trump said he would set up an AI task force and appoint an AI czar, and he signed an executive order that recasts AI as “super intelligence” in official language. This week, executives from leading AI companies signed a non-binding safety pledge at the White House. The announcement comes as US AI labs face mounting scrutiny over agents that escaped test environments and breached outside systems. Details of the new body’s powers and budget have not been published.