‘Things Wouldn't Function Well Without Him’: Trump Praises Indian-Origin AI Adviser Sriram Krishnan

US President Donald Trump has praised Indian American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author Sriram Krishnan, for his role in shaping the US’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy and strengthening

Washington against Beijing.

The endorsement occurred during a brief exchange at the White House Christmas Party. In the now viral video, Trump can be heard saying, “Without him, things on AI would not function well”.

He highlighted Krishnan as a pivotal figure behind the executive action.

In response, Krishnan attributed the success of the new AI order to Trump’s leadership and emphasised the strong backing it has received from the tech industry. He explained that the order is designed to fortify the United States’ position in the global AI competition.

Krishnan explained that the order currently operates through executive authority. The administration is seeking congressional approval to make its provisions permanent. He told Trump that support on Capitol Hill has grown in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Trump signed an Executive Order to protect American AI innovation from an inconsistent and costly compliance regime resulting from varying state laws.

The order directs the Attorney General to establish an AI Litigation Task Force to challenge unconstitutional, preempted, or otherwise unlawful State AI laws that harm innovation.

The order directs the Secretary of Commerce to publish an evaluation of State AI laws that conflict with national AI policy priorities and withhold non-deployment Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding from any state with such AI laws, a statement from the White House said.

Who Is Sriram Krishnan?

In December last year, Trump named Krishnan as Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence. Krishnan, who has previously led product teams at Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo!, Facebook and Snap, works along with David O. Sacks who is the White House AI & Crypto Czar.

He is not new to Silicon Valley, he has emerged as a pivotal figure in the tech landscape, particularly after billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter and asked the Indian-American software engineer to run the platform temporarily in 2022.

Krishnan, originally from Chennai, has built a reputation as a strategic thinker and builder in Silicon Valley. His career trajectory includes influential roles at tech giants such as Facebook, X, and Snapchat. At Facebook, Krishnan played a pivotal role in developing the Facebook Audience Network, which competes with Google’s ad technologies. During his first stint at Twitter (now X), he oversaw product initiatives aimed at enhancing user engagement.