Climate and environmental science will take a back seat to artificial intelligence on President Donald Trump’s science advisory council.
Trump issued an executive order on Thursday to create his President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, or PCAST. The board will be co-chaired by technology investor David Sacks and veteran Trump aide Michael Kratsios. Trump had previously announced Sacks as his new “White House AI and Crypto Czar” and Kratsios as his Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
Lynne Parker, founding director of the White House National Artificial Initiative Office, will serve as PCAST’s executive director and counselor to the OSTP director. During Trump’s first term, Kratsios and Parker were U.S. chief technology officer and deputy CTO, respectively.
Signed on Trump’s fourth day in office, the order is a departure from his first administration, which conspicuously failed to prioritize the president’s science advisers.
