White House Power Struggle: Bessent and Others Push Trump to Tighten AI Regulation
nashnova research
A sustained tug-of-war over AI regulation has split Trump's inner circle — Treasury Secretary Bessent and Chief of Staff Wiles want stricter rules, while AI adviser Sacks and Big Tech CEOs push a light-touch line. Trump sided publicly with the light-touch camp this week, but the regulatory endgame remains open.
Who is on each side of this fight?
The regulation camp is led by Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, joined by National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross. The three hold near-daily meetings on AI risk and speak regularly with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic executives.
The light-touch camp centers on White House AI adviser David Sacks, with Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia's Jensen Huang as outside allies — all three lobby Trump against any proactive regulatory framework.
This means → the split is not just a policy disagreement. It is a structural collision inside the White House: the chief of staff controls the schedule, the Treasury secretary owns financial-stability risk, and the AI adviser holds the tech agenda — three power lines competing for presidential attention.
Which rounds has the light-touch camp won?
In May, Sacks placed a last-minute call to Trump and convinced him to rescind an executive order that would have extended government review of AI models. Wiles objected afterward; Bessent pushed through a scaled-down replacement order.
More recently, Sacks, Zuckerberg, and Huang jointly opposed a proposed industry-funded regulatory body — the plan has been shelved.
In plain terms = the light-touch camp's playbook is clear: skip the conference-room tug-of-war and call the president directly at the decisive moment, changing outcomes in a single conversation.
Why is Sacks's role controversial?
Some White House officials have privately investigated whether Sacks's venture-capital firm benefits from blocking regulation — the firm holds stakes in SpaceX and several AI startups, and previously invested in Meta, Palantir, and Airbnb.
Sacks stepped down as AI and crypto "czar" in March and now co-chairs the White House tech advisory council.
This means → the title changed, but the influence channel did not — he still co-hosts the tech podcast "All-In," where Trump called in live this week and Huang picked up the phone on-air to praise the president's remarks.
Where does Trump himself stand?
This week Trump declared publicly that the only AI regulation America needs is "a strong and smart president," calling some AI executives' pleas for coordinated slowdowns a "hoax."
Hours later he called into a live taping of "All-In"; Huang answered and praised his stance. Trump said: "Robots are not going to take over. AI is not going to take over the world."
This reflects the light-touch camp's current upper hand on policy direction. But the regulation camp continues to press, and the final shape of the AI regulatory framework is far from settled.
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