David Sacks and JD Vance. Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty
Innovation Council Action, the pro-AI group dedicated to “eliminating red tape … to enable American [AI] innovation,” has closer links to Trump AI advisor David Sacks than previously reported: two of its directors, according to a new company filing, are senior executives at Sacks’ venture capital firm, Craft Ventures.
A recent filing in Utah lists the three directors of Innovation Council Action Inc. as Chris Applegate, Brian Murray and Mark Woolway. Woolway is the president of Craft Ventures, the VC firm founded by Sacks in 2017. Murray is partner and COO of Craft.
Applegate, meanwhile, appears to be the founder of political consulting and fundraising firm GrigsbyApplegate, and a close JD Vance associate: Vance listed Applegate as part of his finance team in 2022, and the New York Times reported in April that Applegate “oversees [Vance’s] donor relationships.”
The group’s public leader, former White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich, does not appear on the filing.
A spokesperson for Craft said: “Craft Ventures is not a donor or involved in the group. Craft employees may serve on the boards of nonprofit organizations in their personal capacity.” Innovation Council Action and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The filing is the clearest sign yet of Sacks’ ties to Innovation Council Action, though he endorsed the group when it launched. Sacks, who previously served as the White House AI and crypto czar and now chairs the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, has long been one of the most vocal opponents of AI regulation. In recent weeks, he has strongly opposed AI companies’ calls for the government to coordinate an AI slowdown, warning of “regulatory capture” — talking points repeated by Innovation Council Action.
What’s happened to MAGA’s $100m AI push?
Innovation Council was initially expected to be a major force in AI policy. The group, which launched in March, pledged to spend $100m on the midterms and was expected to establish a super PAC. As Transformer previously reported, that money never materialized, with a PAC set up but dissolved without raising or spending any money. Transformer has not been able to find any record of the group donating to other PACs, either.
In recent months Innovation Council has become more active. Last week, Nicholas Elliott, its director of government affairs, registered as a lobbyist. In August, it sponsored an AI policy event with Breitbart News, which featured Pentagon CTO Emil Michael as a speaker.
On social media, the group regularly posts videos of Sacks, Jensen Huang, and other skeptics of AI regulation. AI advocacy group the Midas Project has compiled evidence suggesting some of those videos have been amplified by a paid influencer campaign.