This summer, as President Donald Trump signed a new industry-friendly “Genius Act” for cryptocurrency, he deferred to White House “AI and cryptocurrency czar” David Sacks to explain why crypto companies need a hands-off regulatory framework.

When Trump introduced an executive order this month that limits states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence, Sacks was at his side again, insisting that government needs to get out of Silicon Valley’s way if the US hopes to beat China in the race for superintelligence.

Sacks has had a meteoric rise to become Trump’s point person on all things tech.

Sacks was an early friend of tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel. The two met at Stanford, bonded over their conservative leanings, and co-wrote The Diversity Myth, a polemic against political correctness and campus liberalism. He then became part of Thiel and Elon Musk’s “PayPal mafia,” started a company that sold to Microsoft for $1.2 billion, and founded a venture capital firm with big stakes in SpaceX and xAI.

Today, Explained co-host Noel King spoke with Nitasha Tiku, tech culture reporter for the Washington Post, about how Sacks went from Silicon Valley investor to DC heavyweight.

Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.

How do most people know about David Sacks?

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