President Trump announced the first members of his President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) late last month. The roster is dominated by the technology and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors, with few members having experience in other scientific fields. As a result, the scientific community has raised ongoing concerns that the makeup of Trump’s committee will lead to a prioritization of technological interests over scientific.
Since 1933, presidents have assembled their own advisory committee of scientists, engineers, and industry experts to drive American leadership in science and technology. The committee tends to represent the interests of the administration, with Trump’s first PCAST similarly favoring industry experts over academics. A 2025 Executive Order (EO) from Trump stated PCAST would include “the brightest minds from academia, industry, and government,” but only one of the new PCAST members is currently in academia — John Martinis, PhD, University of California Santa Barbara, a professor of physics.
Other members include technology tycoons Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook; Larry Ellison, Oracle; Michael Dell, Dell Technologies; Sergey Brin, Google; and Jensen Huang, Nvidia. The committee features only two women — Lisa Su, CEO of the semiconductor company, AMD; and Safra Catz, former CEO of Oracle. Four members hold PhDs: Martinis; Su; Jacob Dewitte, founder of a nuclear technology company; and Bob Mumgaard, co-founder of a fusion energy company. It is unclear how these advisors will fulfill the purported mandate of PCAST with minimal experience in science, research, or policy. PCAST is co-chaired by Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Michael Kratsios and senior AI adviser David Sacks. Lynne Parker, a roboticist and AI policy expert, previously served as PCAST’s Executive Director, but no new leadership has been announced since her departure last August.
Under the previous administration, PCAST was noted as the most diverse committee in history and included twenty members from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) (see previous FABBS article here). Biden’s committee showed strong support for the behavioral and brain sciences, with numerous events showcasing our sciences, including a convening in 2023 for behavioral and social scientists to share applications of their research to the public. In early 2025, Biden’s PCAST released the report “Harnessing Social and Behavioral Science Insights to Enhance Policymaking and Improve the Lives of the American People,” a clear display of their value for and interest in FABBS sciences (see previous FABBS article here).
