Sriram Krishnan is leaving his role as senior policy advisor on artificial intelligence at the White House at the end of June, capping 18 months as one of the most influential tech-industry figures inside the Trump administration. Krishnan announced the departure in a post on X, citing the administration's AI Action Plan as the headline accomplishment of his tenure. He plans to launch an outside institution focused on AI policy, according to The Washington Post.
Krishnan came into government from Andreessen Horowitz, where he was a partner, after earlier product leadership stints at Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo, Facebook, and Snap. His arrival was part of a broader migration of Silicon Valley operators into the second Trump administration, following the firm's founders backing Trump during the 2024 election.
“It is hard to express how big a privilege it has been to serve the American people and how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to do so.”— Sriram Krishnan, Outgoing White House senior policy advisor on AI
The signature output of Krishnan's 18 months was the AI Action Plan, which prioritized data center buildout over new federal regulation and safety mandates. President Donald Trump has since signed several AI-focused executive orders, including one challenging state-level AI rules and a separate oversight order that was delayed and narrowed after industry pushback. Trump has also publicly endorsed the idea of the federal government taking equity stakes in major AI companies, a posture with few modern precedents in US technology policy.
Key facts
- 01Sriram Krishnan is leaving his White House senior AI policy advisor role at the end of June after 18 months.
- 02Krishnan previously led product teams at Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo, Facebook, and Snap, and was a partner at Andreessen Horowitz.
- 03He helped shape the administration's AI Action Plan, which prioritized data center construction over regulation and safety.
- 04Krishnan plans to start an outside institution that will still allow him to influence Trump's AI policy, per The Washington Post.
- 05David Sacks, his closest collaborator over 18 months, stepped down as AI and crypto czar earlier this year and now co-chairs PCAST.
Krishnan said the person he worked most closely with over the last 18 months was David Sacks, the investor and podcaster who served as AI and crypto czar before stepping down earlier this year. Sacks now co-chairs the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, where he continues to shape federal AI direction from outside the day-to-day West Wing operation.
Krishnan called Sacks' continuing advocacy for America winning on AI crucial, and framed his own next step as building institutions that tackle large challenges for America and its allies. The Washington Post reported that the new outside institution he is planning would still position him to influence Trump administration AI policy from the private sector — a familiar revolving-door pattern, but one with unusually direct policy access given the relationships he is leaving with.
The exit lands during a period of heavy federal-AI activity. Google agreed last week to pay SpaceX $920M per month for compute capacity routed through xAI, a deal we covered as part of the widening commercial overlap between hyperscalers and politically connected AI infrastructure providers. State-level fights over data center siting have escalated in parallel, with New York passing a one-year construction moratorium and local backlashes derailing projects in Utah and Indiana.
“Whether it is energy, data centers or a clear path for Americans to experience the benefits of AI, there are many tough issues we all need to navigate together.”— Sriram Krishnan, Outgoing White House senior policy advisor on AI
Krishnan's departure does not, on its face, change federal AI policy direction. The AI Action Plan is in place, the executive orders are signed, and Sacks remains the public face of the administration's AI agenda from his PCAST perch. What changes is who is in the building writing the next memo. The senior policy advisor role coordinates across agencies, industry, and the White House counsel's office on day-to-day AI decisions, and refilling it will reset some of the personal relationships that drove the first 18 months.
The skeptic's read is that this is the standard Washington pattern of an operator cycling out of government to monetize access and relationships from the outside, with the AI Action Plan's deregulatory tilt now serving as a calling card. Critics of the plan have argued it under-weights safety and concentrates benefits among incumbent infrastructure players; Krishnan's planned outside institution will be judged in part on whether it broadens that frame or reinforces it.
For AI companies, the immediate question is continuity. Krishnan was a known point of contact for industry on data centers, energy, and the rollback of state-level AI rules — issues he flagged again on his way out. Whoever fills the seat inherits a policy stack built around accelerating buildout and limiting regulatory friction, and the administration has shown no appetite for reversing course. The bigger shift may come from outside the White House, where Krishnan and Sacks now both operate as private-sector voices with direct lines into federal AI decisions — a configuration that gives industry more channels of influence, not fewer.
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