The Senate has confirmed Ethan Klein as the nation’s fifth-ever chief technology officer and as associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The White House said in a press release posted on the social media site X that Klein will oversee national policy efforts that reinforce U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence, quantum, nuclear energy and other emerging technologies.
Data from Congress revealed that Senate legislators voted 53-43 in favor of Klein’s confirmation on Thursday.
Who Is Ethan Klein?
Klein returns to the White House, where he served as policy adviser at the OSTP during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Outside of the White House, he is a nuclear engineer who held roles at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
In a statement, Klein thanked Trump and OSTP Director Michael Kratsios for “entrusting me with the role of U.S. Chief Technology Officer at this pivotal moment.”
“As someone who has worked both at the lab bench and the White House, I believe deeply in America’s vibrant tech ecosystem and the promise of emerging technologies to fundamentally improve American lives,” he said. “The Golden Age of American Innovation has only just begun.”
Klein earned his Master of Business Administration from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and his doctorate in nuclear engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Related Articles
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have published an initial draft of an interagency report that aims to address cyberthreats targeting identity tokens and assertions. CISA said Monday that the draft report, titled “Protecting Tokens and Assertions from Forgery, Theft and Misuse,” is open for public comments through Jan. 30. The report adheres to the cybersecurity directive issued by the White House in June. This EO—focused on sustaining national cyber defenses—updates and amends previous guidelines found in Executive Orders 13694 and 14144. Understand the threats American systems are facing amid increasing global
The Department of War will add xAI for Government to GenAI.mil, its bespoke platform that brings generative artificial intelligence capabilities to all civilians, contractors and military personnel under DOW. The department said Monday that it entered into an agreement with xAI for the company’s suite of frontier‑grade capabilities, which are based on the Grok family of models. DOW expects initial deployment in early 2026. The Potomac Officers Club will host a panel on artificial intelligence at the 2026 Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 29. Leaders from across the Pentagon and industry are gathering at the event to discuss the key
The Department of Health and Human Services has released a proposed rule aimed at streamlining federal health IT certification requirements, strengthening patient protections against information blocking and laying new groundwork for artificial intelligence-enabled data exchange across the healthcare system. HHS said Monday that the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: ASTP/ONC Deregulatory Actions to Unleash Prosperity proposed rule, known as HTI-5, advances the administration’s deregulation and AI leadership agenda. The proposal was released through the assistant secretary for technology policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Federal healthcare agencies are navigating large-scale modernization efforts while balancing interoperability,