Prior to joining the Trump administration as deputy assistant to the president, Kratsios was a principal at Thiel Capital and served as chief of staff to entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.[7][15][16]
White House
Kratsios joined the White House in 2017 as Deputy Assistant to the President for Technology Policy. In March 2019, the White House announced that President Trump would nominate Kratsios as the next U.S. CTO and an associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.[17] On August 1, 2019, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to confirm him as the fourth U.S. CTO.[18]
At the White House, Kratsios advocated for the promotion of emerging technologies in the United States.[19] Under his leadership, the White House hosted the American Leadership in Emerging Technology Summit during the Administration's Technology Week in June 2017, kicking off a multi-year effort to prioritize domains in which the United States must ensure technological preeminence to maintain a strong economy and safeguard national security.[20][21][22]
Kratsios led administration efforts on artificial intelligence and quantum information science. Kratsios is the architect of the American AI Initiative, the national strategy for promoting American leadership in AI.[23][24] He also oversaw the implementation of the bipartisan National Quantum Initiative Act, including the establishment of a new National Quantum Coordination Office in the White House.[25] In August 2020, Kratsios announced a billion dollar investment in research institutes to advance AI and quantum R&D in the United States.[26] Kratsios was responsible for developing a first-of-its-kind set of regulatory principles to govern AI development in the private sector.[27] In January 2020, Kratsios announced the establishment of the National AI Initiative Office at the White House.[28] He also led the White House effort to integrate drones into the national airspace system, resulting in a presidential memorandum signed October 25, 2017, that called for the establishment of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program.[29][30][31][32]
In March 2020, Kratsios launched the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium, the largest public-private computing partnership ever created, to match researchers with the world’s most powerful computing resources, accelerating the pace of scientific discovery in the fight against the virus.[33][34]
Kratsios has represented the United States as Head of Delegation at a number of international fora, including G7 Technology Ministerials in Turin, Montreal, and Paris,[35][36][37] and G20 Digital Economic Ministerials in Salta, Argentina and Tsukuba, Japan.[38][39] He worked with U.S. allies, including in the G7, to counter China in AI policy,[40] and during his tenure, the U.S. joined the Global Partnership on AI.[41]
Kratsios also led U.S. efforts at the OECD to develop the OECD Recommendations on AI, the world's first intergovernmental policy guidelines for AI.[42]
Kratsios has advocated for the Department to better leverage its unique testing authorities to accelerate innovation, to strengthen its research and development partnerships with startups and smaller innovators, and to enhance its strategic R&D collaboration with America's international allies.[49] Kratsios led the Department’s efforts to accelerate the adoption of 5G, and in October 2020, announced $600 million in awards for 5G experimentation and testing at five U.S. military test sites, representing the largest full-scale 5G tests for dual-use applications in the world.[50]
Kratsios has also advocated for greater participation of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority serving institutions (MSIs) in the defense industrial base. In September 2020, Kratsios announced $50 million in grants to HBCUs and MSIs to conduct research in defense priority areas.[51][52]
Scale AI Inc.
In March 2021, Kratsios joined data management startup Scale AI Inc. as its managing director and head of strategy, which is a new role within the company.[53]
In February 2024, he announced his engagement to Alissa Davies, eldest daughter of Sir David Davies.[62]
References
^Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton Alumni Weekly. 1986. p. 57. PRNC:32101081978148. John Kratsios *85 writes that his second child. Michael John, was born Nov. 7, 1986.
^Kang, Cecilia; Shear, Michael D. (March 30, 2017). "Trump Leaves Science Jobs Vacant, Troubling Critics". The New York Times. Mr. Trump has not yet named his top advisers on technology or science, and so far, has made just one hire: Michael Kratsios, the former chief of staff for Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley investor and one of the president's wealthiest supporters, as the deputy chief technology officer.
