INV-033 · Money & ethics · Conflicts of interest

David Sacks, AI policy and his investments

Stage 1 of 5: Reported · News reporting only · Last development 2 Jun 2026

David Sacks served as White House AI and crypto czar as a special government employee. Ethics waivers let him keep stakes that The New York Times counted at hundreds of AI-related investments, which he says regulators cleared. In May 2026 Trump canceled the signing of an AI executive order that would have created a voluntary pre-release model review of up to 90 days, after reported calls from Sacks and other tech leaders. On 2 June 2026 he signed a narrower order with a 30-day window. FEC records show David and Jacqueline Sacks each gave $1 million to their Purple Good Government PAC on 29 May 2026.

The role of Sacks's calls in the May delay comes from press reports citing unnamed officials. The reported $1 million from Purple Good Government PAC to MAGA Inc. on 2 June 2026 could not be confirmed in the FEC pages read for this check. Sacks denies any conflict and says the Office of Government Ethics approved his waivers.

People: David Sacks, Jacqueline Sacks, Donald Trump
Agencies: White House
Reviewed by: Press

Timeline

2 Jun 2026
Trump signed a scaled-back order giving the government up to 30 days of voluntary pre-release access to covered frontier models. The Daily Signal reported that the change followed calls from Sacks and other tech leaders. [6]
2 Jun 2026
AP reported that the order was signed without a ceremony after Trump said in May he did not want to 'get in the way' of the US lead in AI. The White House said it was 'NOT conducting oversight of all new models.' [7]
29 May 2026
David Sacks and Jacqueline Sacks each gave $1,000,000 to Purple Good Government PAC (FEC July Quarterly report). The PAC reported about $1.0 million in other disbursements for April–June 2026; the recipient could not be read from the FEC pages accessed. [5]
21 May 2026
Trump canceled a planned signing of an AI order that would have let frontier labs voluntarily submit models up to 90 days before release. Politico, citing a senior official, reported that Sacks called Trump directly after raising concerns that the voluntary system could become mandatory. Musk and Zuckerberg also reportedly called. [4]
26 Mar 2026
Sacks said he was no longer AI and crypto czar after his 130-day special-government-employee stint ended. He became co-chair of PCAST with Michael Kratsios. [3]
13 Dec 2025
NPR reported that Sacks and Craft Ventures still hold more than 400 AI-linked investments under ethics waivers. Ethics scholar Kathleen Clark called them 'sham ethics waivers.' [2]
30 Nov 2025
The New York Times reported that Sacks helped shape AI policy while holding 708 tech investments, 449 of them AI-related, and that his filings do not disclose the value of remaining stakes. [1]

Responses

David Sacks / his attorneys: His lawyers called the NYT story a "hit piece" and a "willful misunderstanding" of his special-government-employee status. Sacks wrote: "Every time we would prove an accusation false, NYT pivoted to the next allegation." [1]
David Sacks: On his podcast he said he divested hundreds of millions of dollars and that the Office of Government Ethics approved his waivers and found no conflicts in his venture firm's investments. [2]
White House (spokeswoman Liz Huston): Said Sacks addressed potential conflicts before starting and called his insights "an invaluable asset." [1]
New York Times: Said it stands by its reporting. [2]

Sources

Cite this case

Public Trust Tracker. "David Sacks, AI policy and his investments" (INV-033). Last updated 2 Jun 2026. https://publictrusttracker.org/case/inv-033-david-sacks-ai-policy-and-his-investments/

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