Trump intel chief warns AI firms on hacks, says new department is the 'cop on the beat'

President Donald Trump's intelligence chief is putting AI companies on notice — warning they must take responsibility when their technology hacks websites as Washington moves to establish new safeguards against the rapidly advancing technology.

"Well, let me be clear. Hacking of a government website, hacking of a private sector website — if your product does that, you are responsible," Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, who was recently charged with heading the newly announced Super Intelligence Force (SIF) said Saturday on "My View with Lara Trump."

Jay Clayton, then-U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and nominee for director of national intelligence, testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee during his confirmation hearing on July 15, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The SIF will also be led by FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Department of War Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael and OPM Director Scott Kupor, who will report to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

Addressing recent reports that Anthropic models submitted a visa application to the State Department and even a false homicide tip to the police, Clayton said that the government had already intervened.

"We immediately told Anthropic, 'You need to get in there and assist the entities that have had this happen to them, patch their systems and prevent this from happening again.' And I fully expect them to do that," he said. 

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Dario Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic, looks toward Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, and President Donald Trump during a press briefing with AI executives outside the West Wing of the White House on Sept. 29, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

He rejected the notion that these increasingly autonomous AI systems operate within a "life of their own" that absolves companies from responsibility.

"I think there's been a reset, and it's now our job to enforce that reset," he said.

The SIF was given 120 days to recommend AI guardrails to the president that will keep Americans safe without stifling innovation.

Clayton said he would focus on the "issues of the moment" when it comes to autonomous agents going rogue, which he laid out in three categories: detection, reporting and response.

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"We know that there are going to be incidents in the development and application of super intelligence... How do participants in the marketplace report those to the government in a timely and comprehensive way to enable us to react and them to react in the best interest of the American people?"

He said Americans want to know "that we are the cop on the beat," and that the government is requiring frontier labs "to address any harms."

Max Bacall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital covering media, culture and comedy.