US President Donald Trump has unveiled a new roster for the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and the composition has ignited controversy across the global scientific community. Of the 13 members named, 12 are leading technology executives or billionaires, while the council includes just one academic researcher, a stark departure from recent administrations. The appointments, reported by Nature, underscore the Trump administration’s pronounced focus on industry-driven innovation, particularly in areas like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and nuclear energy.
Among the new appointees are some of the most prominent figures in global technology. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison all join the council, alongside hardware industry leaders such as Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, Lisa Su of Advanced Micro Devices, and Michael Dell of Dell Technologies. Collectively, the corporate members hold an estimated combined wealth exceeding US$900 billion. Three executives, including Su, hold PhDs from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while nuclear-energy start-up leaders Jacob DeWitte and Bob Mumgaard bring specialized expertise in nuclear engineering and applied plasma physics. The sole academic voice is John Martinis, a Nobel Prize-winning quantum physicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who shared the award last year for his work on macroscopic quantum phenomena. Martinis expressed his honor at being selected, telling Nature, “I am honoured to be on the committee.”
Reactions from the broader scientific community have been mixed. Laura Greene, a physicist at Florida State University and a former PCAST member under President Joe Biden, praised both Martinis and Su as exemplary in science and technology. Yet other researchers have raised alarm over the lack of diversity in disciplinary expertise. Vaughan Cooper, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Pittsburgh, criticized the council’s makeup on social media, noting, “Not a single biologist and only one university researcher on PCAST. This leaves the country unbelievably ill prepared for an age of biotechnology, a race we are already beginning to lose.”
Historically, PCAST has maintained a more balanced mix of academic and industry representatives. Under Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021, the council included seven academic scientists and six industry leaders. During Biden’s 2021–2024 term, 19 of the 28 members were academics, reflecting a stronger emphasis on research-driven policymaking. Prior to 2025, every PCAST since 2001 had at least ten academic researchers. Science policy experts, including Kenny Evans of Rice University, view the current appointments as a clear signal of the administration’s priorities. “Historically, PCAST’s membership reflects the president’s science and tech priorities,” Evans told Nature. “This group is about what you would expect from the Trump administration — a handful of billionaires and tech executives with expertise narrowly focused on AI, quantum and nuclear fusion.”
The council’s formation coincides with a strategic push in these fields. Artificial intelligence and quantum information technology top the administration’s research and development priorities, and the government has set ambitious targets for nuclear energy, aiming to quadruple US commercial nuclear power capacity by 2050. In December, a merger between nuclear-fusion company TAE Technologies and a firm co-owned by Trump highlighted the administration’s investment in energy innovation. These industry-focused priorities explain the predominance of corporate leaders on the council, though critics warn that such a narrow lens risks sidelining critical areas like biotechnology, environmental science, and public health.
The new PCAST will be co-chaired by David Sacks, Trump’s AI czar and a venture capitalist, alongside Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Kratsios announced the council’s composition on the social media platform X, emphasizing its mission to “unite America’s brightest minds to advise the President on the most pressing national issues in science and technology.” He further framed the council’s work as critical for ensuring that the US maintains leadership in what he described as the “Golden Age of Innovation,” particularly by addressing the challenges and opportunities emerging technologies present to the American workforce.
While the current council reflects a strong tilt toward technology and corporate interests, its composition could still evolve. Under a presidential order issued in 2025, Trump retains the authority to appoint up to 11 additional members, potentially allowing for a more diverse representation of scientific disciplines. For now, however, the appointments have already ignited debate over the future of US science policy, with experts warning that the sidelining of academic researchers could affect national readiness in critical areas such as biotechnology, climate science, and public health.
As the council begins its work advising the White House on topics ranging from nutrition science to cross-agency technology initiatives like the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development program, observers are closely monitoring how the balance between industry insight and academic rigor will shape national science policy. The appointments, Nature reports, mark a clear pivot toward the corporate and technological elite, raising questions about the priorities guiding America’s scientific and technological agenda in the years ahead.
