Trump announces slate of tech appointments, 'crypto council'

(The Hill) — President-elect Trump announced a slate of tech appointments in posts on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.

“I am pleased to announce the brilliant Team that will be working in conjunction with our White House A.I. & Crypto Czar, David O. Sacks,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Together, we will unleash scientific breakthroughs, ensure America’s technological dominance, and usher in a Golden Age of American Innovation!”

In his posts, the president-elect said that his pick for White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) director is Michael Kratsios and his pick for the President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology (PCAST) executive director and OSTP director’s counselor is Lynne Parker.

Kratsios spent time in the previous Trump administration as the president-elect’s chief technology officer. He was also tapped to be the acting undersecretary of Defense for research and engineering during the president-elect’s last time in the White House.

According to a biography on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s website, Parker serves as the school’s associate vice chancellor. The biography also states that as a part of the OSTP between 2018 and 2022, Parker headed up national policy efforts focused on artificial intelligence (AI) in various roles including U.S. deputy chief technology officer.

Trump also said the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets or “the ‘Crypto Council,’” which he described as “a new advisory group composed of luminaries from the Crypto industry” will have an executive director in Bo Hines.

Hines is a former college football player and former GOP House candidate that lost a race to Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) in 2022.

Trump also said on Truth Social Sunday that his pick for OSTP senior policy advisor is Sriram Krishnan, adding that he “will focus on ensuring continued American leadership in A.I.”

According to his website, Krishnan is “an engineer and investor,” who was at investor Andreessen Horowitz as a general partner. He describes himself as centering his “time these days on working with entrepreneurs and with governments on AI.”