# White House AI Task Force Adopts Charter and Commissions PCAST Risk Report, Semafor Reports

Times of AI Desk · 2026-10-16 · Policy

[https://timesof.ai/2026/10/white-house-ai-task-force-charter-semafor](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/white-house-ai-task-force-charter-semafor)

> The White House's AI task force formally adopted its charter after its first meeting on Oct. 15 and agreed to commission a PCAST report on AI risk, Semafor reported in an exclusive. Emil Michael will lead breach-reporting protocols for labs. No charter text or White House release was seen.

The task force's 120-day clock is now running, according to the one outlet with the announcement. The White House's AI task force formally adopted its charter after its first official meeting on **Thursday, October 15**, **Semafor** reported in an exclusive, citing an announcement shared first with the outlet.

## What Semafor reports

The task force agreed to commission a report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology evaluating AI risk in three areas: cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection, biosecurity and dual-use applications, and model control and accountability, according to Semafor.

It also created a working group to implement the White House Accord on Super Intelligence, led by chair and Director of National Intelligence **Jay Clayton** with National Cyber Director **Sean Cairncross**, Semafor reports. Vice chair **Emil Michael** will lead work on breach-reporting protocols and act as the interface with labs. FTC Chair **Andrew Ferguson** will lead a "law enforcement and consumer protection coordination committee" with the Justice Department, and **Scott Kupor** will work on critical-infrastructure protection and AI's workforce impact.

How compliance will be enforced is not yet clear, Semafor says; a White House official told it one stick could be export controls.

We reported the [task force's creation and 120-day remit](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/clayton-super-intelligence-force) on October 3. Ferguson's FTC this week [sent civil investigative demands to OpenAI and Anthropic](https://timesof.ai/2026/09/ftc-probe-anthropic-openai-metr-agents), Axios reported.

## Limits

- This rests on a single outlet's exclusive. The charter text and any White House release were not read.

## Sources

- [Semafor: White House's AI task force gets to work (October 15, 2026)](https://www.semafor.com/article/10/15/2026/white-houses-ai-task-force-gets-to-work)
- [Times of AI: Jay Clayton to lead White House 'Super Intelligence Force' (October 3, 2026)](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/clayton-super-intelligence-force)
- [Times of AI: FTC probe update (October 15, 2026)](https://timesof.ai/2026/09/ftc-probe-anthropic-openai-metr-agents)