Commentary: Department of AI, not a czar, to avert crisis

The commentary builds its case on the scale of AI spending now woven into the US economy. It notes Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft alone invested $400 billion in 2025 on data centers, part of a buildout that has helped drive a US bull run and record stock highs. That linkage, the author argues, cuts both ways: while cash flows, sentiment stays positive, but the mood is turning.

The author points to semiconductor stocks' turbulent ride this year, growing public pushback against data centers, and a string of trust shocks. These include OpenAI's agents attacking Hugging Face this summer, a rogue model hacking the Australian Government's website, and Anthropic's warning in its recent IPO filing that AI may pose an existential risk. The president has signaled readiness to appoint an AI czar, with Jay Clayton floated as a possible fit, but the author contends more manpower is needed.

The proposed Department of AI would, in the author's telling, set risk-based rules before a model goes live and run audits and fines after, giving firms clarity rather than deterring innovation. The stakes hinge on whether investor confidence holds: the author's worst case is a mass exodus that ends the bull market and triggers a crisis on the scale of 2008.