Trump tech adviser David Sacks under fire over vast AI investments
Source: NPR
Updated December 13, 2025 5:01 AM ET
David Sacks, President Trump's influential adviser on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, is on the defensive over government paperwork that critics say grant him "carte blanche" to shape U.S. policy while retaining hundreds of investments in the tech world.
Sacks is a prominent venture capitalist who, along with Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, is a member of the Paypal Mafia, a group of executives of the online payments company who helped spark the digital economy after the dot-com bust.
The debate over Sacks' investments comes just as he helped shape a controversial executive order instructing the Justice Department to challenge state AI laws deemed "onerous" to the industry — something that's faced resistance from both parties and members of the MAGA movement who distrust the tech elite.
Ethics expert question scope of waivers
The controversy centers on routine government paperwork known as ethics waivers that special government employees, like Sacks, often receive. The documents are intended to justify the public interest rationale for the White House to hire a former industry insider and disclose investments related to the sector over which the official will be crafting policy. Sacks did divest from some tech holdings like Amazon, Meta, and Musk's xAI, but public documents show that he and his firm, Craft Ventures, maintain more than 400 investments in tech firms with ties to AI.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/12/12/nx-s1-5631823/david-sacks-ai-advisor-investment-conflicts
Zero concern about ethics and bold support for law-breaking, is a job requirement for 45.
Meanwhile, run-of-the-mill federal civil servants have to run the gauntlet annually when taking "Ethics Training", with threats of fines and/or imprisonment for something as innocent as accepting anything over $25 (like stuff that might be dished out at an industry/professional conference, where promotional gifts often come with the conference registration fee, like mugs or tote bags, etc).
I remember new hires at my agency, who when confronted with the "divestment" requirement, opted to refuse the position or resigned soon after being hired.
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