Summary
The article profiles David Sacks, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, influential Republican donor, co-host of the All-In podcast, and now the Trump administration’s A.I. and crypto czar. It argues that Sacks has used his unusual dual role — working in the White House while still actively investing and operating in tech — to shape federal technology policy in ways that benefit his friends, his allies, and potentially himself.
1. A powerful insider shaping A.I. policy
Since early 2025, Sacks has been a “special government employee,” giving him broad access to White House policymaking while still maintaining his position at Craft Ventures, his investment firm. He helped craft President Trump’s A.I. Action Plan, which deregulates A.I. development, accelerates data-center construction, and opens export pathways for advanced chips.
The people present at the high-profile July A.I. summit — Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, AMD’s CEO, and many Sacks-aligned investors — stood to profit from the changes. So did Sacks himself, who has 708 total tech investments, including 449 connected to A.I., per his financial disclosures.
2. Ethical concerns and conflicts of interest
The article emphasizes that Sacks:
- Retains hundreds of A.I. and crypto investments, even after receiving ethics waivers.
- Has a portfolio where many companies labeled as “software/hardware” in filings are in fact A.I. companies by their own marketing.
- May benefit financially from the very deregulation and export permissions he promotes.
Though Sacks says he sold most conflicting holdings, his disclosures don’t show dates or valuations, making it unclear whether he profited during policy shifts.
Critics — including Steve Bannon — argue he represents a new “technocratic oligarchy” with undue influence in government.
3. The Nvidia partnership and push to loosen chip rules
Sacks quickly built a close alliance with Jensen Huang. Both argued that the U.S. should flood the world with American A.I. chips, even in sensitive regions, to prevent China from building alternatives.
Sacks pushed internally to:
- Remove Biden-era export limits.
- Roll back restrictions on selling advanced chips to foreign governments and data centers.
- Lift the U.S. ban on direct sales of cutting-edge chips to China.
In July, after a joint meeting with Sacks and Huang, Trump approved Nvidia’s ability to sell chips to China — a dramatic reversal of national-security guidance.
Sacks also helped broker a 500,000-chip sale to the UAE, estimated to be worth up to $200 billion for Nvidia. Some White House officials were alarmed because of UAE’s ties to China.
4. Policy decisions that overlap with Sacks’s investments
The article lists several examples where Sacks’s government actions benefit companies he partly owns:
-
Defense A.I. investments
Sacks holds stakes in defense-tech firms like Anduril and Swarm Aero. The A.I. Action Plan calls for accelerating autonomous military systems — and Anduril subsequently won a $159M Army contract. -
Stablecoin regulation (GENIUS Act)
Sacks lobbied hard for the bill; after it passed, BitGo (7.8% owned by Craft) declared it was perfectly positioned and soon filed for an IPO. -
A.I. start-ups
His firm Craft continues to invest in A.I. companies while he’s shaping federal A.I. policy. Some, like Vultron and Glue, highlighted Sacks’s involvement in public funding announcements.
Though Sacks’s spokesperson denies that any of these constitute improper benefit, the article shows consistent overlap between public duties and private investments.
5. Boosting the All-In podcast brand inside the White House
Sacks has also used his government role to dramatically increase the profile and reach of All-In:
- The hosts filmed in the White House, interviewed top cabinet officials, and got private access to Trump.
- The annual All-In conference made $21 million in ticket sales this year.
- The podcast launched its own tequila line.
- Sacks initially tried to have All-In be the exclusive host of the White House A.I. summit, even pitching $1 million sponsorships for access.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles intervened, concerned about the optics.
Still, the summit ended up co-branded with All-In, and Sacks handed hosting duties to his podcast partners.
6. A portrait of intertwined interests
The article closes by noting how seamlessly Sacks’s public and private worlds now blend:
- He shapes national A.I. policy.
- His friends and himself benefit financially.
- His media brand grows with each White House appearance.
- Trump praises him publicly and hands him the pen used to sign major A.I. executive orders.
The overall theme: Sacks occupies a uniquely powerful and ethically fraught position, leveraging federal policy, private investment, and personal branding in ways that are unusually intertwined — even by Silicon Valley or Washington standards.
