Quote · Moonshots with Peter Diamandis
Michael Kratsios on the New Golden Age of American Science | EP #276
Where this was said
White House AI Strategy: No AI Czar, But AI Everywhere
At 7:12 · chapter starts 6:30
Peter raises the example of the UAE channeling 50% of government operations through AI and Malaysia deploying an AI representation speaking in every language. Should the US have an AI czar? Kratsios says no — firmly. His reasoning is structural: AI is not a single domain but a horizontal technology that will transform every agency simultaneously, from drone regulation at the FAA to financial services oversight at the SEC. The idea that one person could provide the best policy answer across all those domains is, he says, 'a tall, tall order.' He notes that the Trump administration was ahead of this conversation from the start — President Trump signed the first presidential executive order on artificial intelligence in history in 2019, years before the technology dominated the front page. The conversation surfaces an uncomfortable admission: large language models are currently banned from use on White House systems due to the Presidential Records Act.
Three-quarters of Americans currently fear AI, and 71% oppose data centers near their homes — a higher percentage than those who oppose nearby nuclear power plants.
Three-quarters of Americans fear AI, and Kratsios blames a decade of government-driven doom narratives — culminating in the Bletchley Park AI safety summit that was almost entirely framed around fear. The fix, he argues, is showcasing AI's impact on healthcare where Americans' emotional connection is strongest.
