White House AI policy chief Krishnan to step down at end of June
Sriram Krishnan, the senior White House policy adviser for artificial intelligence, has announced he will leave his post at the end of June 2026. Having led the Trump administration's AI policy for roughly 18 months, he said on his social media that he would be "leaving my role at the White House at the end of this month" (details). Without elaborating on his reasons, he said that after a break he plans to build a new institution to tackle "large challenges around America on AI."
Krishnan was named Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence by then President-elect Trump on December 22, 2024 (report on his appointment), and has been at the heart of AI policy since the administration took office in January 2025. Working closely with David Sacks, the administration's AI and crypto czar, he drove the development and execution of the American AI Action Plan, an executive order on the National AI Policy Framework, and AI summits and partnerships with allies such as France, India, the United Kingdom and Middle Eastern nations (report on his departure).
A former general partner at the prominent venture capital firm a16z (Andreessen Horowitz), Krishnan brings product experience from Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo, Facebook and Snap. Against that industry background, he shaped a pro-industry policy that emphasized the superiority of the "American AI stack." In 2026 he also joined the National Economic Council (background).
His tenure was defined by policy achievements rather than technical metrics. The table below summarizes the representative initiatives from his roughly 18 months in office.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tenure | January 2025 – end of June 2026 (about 18 months) |
| National strategy | Release of the American AI Action Plan |
| Executive order | Drafting of the National AI Policy Framework EO |
| International ties | AI summits and partnerships with allied nations |
The departure has sparked debate over the continuity of the administration's AI policy. Krishnan called the experience "the privilege of a lifetime" and signaled he would continue to work with the White House as an outside adviser. Within the industry, many praise his role in building American AI leadership, while others point to concerns about policy continuity, brain drain and intensifying AI competition with China. Primary reporting from Reuters, Washington Post and TechCrunch covered the exit of a central figure in pro-industry policy and his continued external involvement in a neutral tone (Washington Post report).
The specifics of any successor or new institution are said to be coming "later" and remain undisclosed. How and by whom U.S. AI policy will be carried forward is now the key question.