Chennai-born tech expert to step down as top White House AI adviser: Who is Sriram Krishnan?

A Chennai-born man working as a senior policy adviser for Artificial Intelligence (AI) at White House, will step down from his post by the end of June, news agency PTI reported.

On Saturday, Sriram Krishnan, who has previously worked at Microsoft, Facebook, and X, announced this plan to leave his role at the White House over a post on X.

“I’ll be leaving my role at the White House at the end of this month. After a break I’ll be working on helping tackle some of the large challenges facing America on AI (more on that later),” Krishnan wrote.

🇺🇸🚀 SOME NEWS: I’ll be leaving my role at the White House at the end of this month. After a break I’ll be working on helping tackle some of the large challenges facing America on AI (more on that later).

It is hard to express how big a privilege it has been to serve the…

— Sriram Krishnan (@sriramk) June 6, 2026

Who is Sriram Krishnan?

Born in 1984 in Chennai, India, Sriram Krishnan was employed as the Senior Policy Advisor at the White House, where he worked for US President Donald Trump’s “AI Action Plan”. The policy aimed to provide a blueprint to roll back the regulation of AI and promote the build-out of data centres across the country.

Krishnan was also among Trump’s tech advisers who crafted an executive order limiting states’ ability to regulate AI.

His top achievements during his tenure, which began in January 2025, included the American AI Action Plan, the National AI Policy Framework, and forging of AI acceleration partnerships.

Krishnan pursued his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Information Technology from SRM University in 2005, and then moved to the US two years later to join Microsoft.

Before joining the Trump administration, he, according to his LinkedIn profile, worked as a general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

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He also worked at Facebook and Twitter, and is a close ally of tech giant Elon Musk. Krishnan has advised Musk on his 2022 takeover of Twitter, which was renamed as X, according to news agency PTI.

Krishnan’s farewell post

In a farewell post, which also included some photographs of his time at the White House, Krishnan wrote: “It is hard to express how big a privilege it has been to serve the American people and how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to do so. First and foremost, it has been an honour to serve under President Donald Trump. Without his leadership, we would not be leading in the AI race.”

“The past 18 months have given me a front row seat to this critical moment on AI facing America and our allies. Whether it is energy, data centres or a clear path for Americans to experience the benefits of AI, there are many tough issues we all need to navigate together,” Krishnan said.

Some memories pic.twitter.com/MFcW7x7AWO

— Sriram Krishnan (@sriramk) June 6, 2026

Krishnan’s close ally at the White House, David Sacks, said it has been one of the great privileges to work so closely with him over these months.

“Your skills are genuinely unique: a rare combination of deep technical fluency in AI, sharp policy instincts, exceptional strategic thinking, and true diplomatic talent,” Sacks, Co-Chair, President’s Council of Advisers on Science & Technology, wrote on X.

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Krishnan’s future plans

Krishnan’s future plans are likely to focus on tackling the challenges in the field which he encountered during his time at the White House.

“I plan on building institutions that help tackle some of those challenges for America and its allies,” he stated.

Criticism against Krishnan

Krishnan’s appointment to the White House in 2025 had drawn sharp criticism from Trump’s right-wing influencers, including Laura Loomer.

Loomer said Krishnan had supported removing some caps on green cards and easing the ability of skilled foreign workers to come to the US, that went against Trump’s agenda of “Making America Great Again,” PTI noted.