Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!President Trump, on the new czar

The SI Czar should understand Super Intelligence and believe in it.

Philip Maymin is a Wall Street quant, an award-winning programmer, a California attorney, and a Forbes columnist who has argued against the AI/SI pause since 2023. He is ready to serve as the President’s Super Intelligence Czar.

See the seven requirements Download the one-page PDF
Philip Maymin
The job

Seven requirements for the SI Czar, and the record for each

The President has said what he wants in a Super Intelligence Czar, and reporting on the search has filled in the rest. Each requirement matters for a reason. Here is the reason, and the evidence.

1

High I.Q.

“Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!”President Trump

WhySuper Intelligence is moving faster than the experts. The czar has to follow the math firsthand, not through lobbyists’ summaries.

The recordHarvard bachelor’s in computer science, cum laude, and master’s in applied math, earned together in three and a half years. Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago under Nobel laureate Richard Thaler. The only person to win both the research paper prize and the hackathon at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

2

Understands how SI is built

WhyYou can’t defend or promote what you can’t read. The labs will test the czar’s technical grasp on day one.

The recordWolfram Innovator Award, and four wins in the Wolfram One-Liner Competition. Years of machine-learning research in finance; founding managing editor of the journal Algorithmic Finance.

3

Grows the industry, doesn’t slow it

“We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry.”President Trump

WhyThe buildout, the jobs and America’s lead all depend on speed. A czar who leans toward a pause would undercut the policy.

The recordArgued against the AI/SI pause in Forbes in September 2023, years before it became the central fight, and has kept making the case since.

4

Fights “BAD” with the laws we already have

“We will also be looking for BAD… with our already existing Criminal and Civil Justice System.”President Trump

WhyA new SI bureaucracy burdens honest builders and barely touches bad actors, who ignore it.

The recordWrote in Forbes that SI needs no new definitions of misconduct: “Fraud is fraud. Theft is theft. Sabotage is sabotage.” Attorney admitted in California. Published research on how regulation that forces conformity raises systemic risk.

5

Understands markets and risk

WhySuper Intelligence is now an economic story, with trillions going into chips, power and data centers. The czar has to tell real risk from panic.

The recordHedge fund portfolio manager, including at his own fund. Taught finance and risk engineering at NYU. Author of the textbook Financial Hacking.

6

Makes the case to the public

WhyReporting on the search says the White House wants a surrogate who can lead the rebranding. Public worry about SI is rising, so the czar has to explain SI in plain words, in print and on TV.

The recordForbes contributor on AI/SI and finance. Bastiat Prize finalist for online journalism. Backed “Extreme Intelligence,” one of the President’s proposed names, in Forbes the day after his poll.

7

Committed to the President’s SI agenda, on the record

WhyA czar carries out the President’s policy under pressure from labs, Congress and foreign governments. A public record made before the job existed is the best evidence a candidate will hold the line.

The recordPublicly supported the President in a New York Times letter in January 2018, when few in finance or academia would. Three years of Forbes columns making the case this agenda rests on.

Sources: President Trump’s Truth Social posts, Sept. 19 to 25, 2026; Axios, Sept. 21, 2026; Politico, Sept. 25, 2026.

Preview of the one-page PDF: SI Czar requirements with a check for each
The one-pager

The whole case, on one page.

Seven requirements, why each one matters, the record behind it, and a check for every one. Print it, forward it, hand it to anyone who asks.

Download the one‑page PDFLetter size · 1 page · 120 KB
The plan

Super Intelligence has two tails. Police one, cultivate the other, and leave the middle alone.

From “Guidance For Trump’s AI Force,” published in Forbes on Sept. 20, 2026, the day after the President announced what is now the SI Force.

The left tail

Defend

Defend critical infrastructure. Protect American model weights and intellectual property from foreign theft. Help existing agencies respond at machine speed. Attackers will not honor a pause.

The right tail

Build

Plentiful electricity, rapid interconnection, accessible federal data and competitive procurement. And a diplomatic shield against foreign governments trying to license American SI.

The middle

Leave it alone

Everyday uses belong to markets, contracts and the courts. Fraud is fraud. Theft is theft. Every proposed rule should report both the catastrophe it might prevent and the discovery it might delay.

“Perhaps one simple philosophy for the AI Force could be this: Let’s not lobotomize ourselves.”
On the record

He said it in 2018, when saying it cost something.

In January 2018, The New York Times turned its opinion page over to letters from the President’s supporters. This was one of them. Afterward he got nearly a hundred emails, some calling him a moron.

The New York TimesLettersJan. 17, 2018

To the Editor:

I’ve voted twice in my life: once for myself when I ran for Congress 10 years ago, and once for Donald Trump last year. Virtually all of my friends or colleagues actively hate Mr. Trump. I’m a minority in every circle I move in. I have a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s and master’s from Harvard; I’m a former hedge fund trader and now an academic; I’m a journalist and author. Imagine being a Trump supporter in even one of those circles! We learn to stay quiet.

How’s he doing? He has turned a fragile nation “anti-fragile” (the scholar Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s term). Before Mr. Trump, we were scared of any volatility. Oh no, ISIS! Oh no, banks! The more chaos there was, the worse we were.

Now volatility is our friend. The more chaos, the better! Entrepreneurship up. Optimism up. Good old American problem solving is back! You know who loves change? Capitalists. Mr. Trump has led us on that spiritual exodus.

PHILIP MAYMIN
GREENWICH, CONN.

The writer is an associate professor of analytics and finance at the University of Bridgeport.

Read the original at nytimes.com →

Eight years later, one week in September

  1. The President announces the AI Force, now the SI Force, “much like I did Space Force,” and polls followers on a new name, including “Extreme Intelligence.”

  2. Maymin publishes a philosophy for the new force in Forbes, backing “Extreme Intelligence” and laying out the two-tails plan.

  3. At the United Nations, the President says all U.S. documents will call it “super intelligence.”

  4. The President names the role the Super Intelligence (SI) Czar.

The same thesis runs through both: freedom beats fragility, and America wins by moving faster than its rivals.

The columns

Three years of making the case

Selected columns. He writes on AI/SI and finance for Forbes.com.

Guidance For Trump’s AI Force: Extreme Intelligence Has Two Tails

The mission for the new force: defend against foreign theft and attack, build power and infrastructure fast, and leave everything else to the laws we already have.

Read in Forbes →

Don’t Pause AI, Finance, Or Thinking

Ran the pause petitioners’ seven safety questions on AI/SI in finance. It fails every one, which shows the questions can’t tell us when to pause. Should we pause thought too?

Read in Forbes →

Pulling The Rug On AI: Earnest Government + Honest Oversight = Inevitable Fragility

Europe’s AI/SI rules are an experiment in institutionalized similarity. Regulation that forces conformity hides risk in the middle until the rug is pulled.

Read in Forbes →

Let’s Ban Human Superintelligence Too!

Took apart the statement calling for a ban on superintelligence. Everything its signers fear from SI, humans did first.

Read in Forbes →

Fine, I’ll Pause My AI Work

Satire of the new pause campaign, from lab CEOs to a Bernie Sanders proposal with “not more than 20 years in prison” for evading it.

Read on X →
All columns on Forbes.com →
Biography

Quant, programmer, lawyer, professor, columnist

Philip Maymin has spent his career where intelligence meets money and risk. He managed hedge fund portfolios on Wall Street, including his own fund, then taught finance, risk engineering and analytics, including at NYU, and has held an endowed chair in analytics.

He earned his Ph.D. in finance at the University of Chicago under Nobel laureate Richard Thaler, and his bachelor’s in computer science (cum laude) and master’s in applied mathematics at Harvard, together in three and a half years. He also holds a J.D. and is an attorney admitted in California, a former congressional candidate, and a Forbes contributor on AI/SI and finance.

  • EducationPh.D. in Finance, University of Chicago. Bachelor’s in Computer Science, cum laude, and Master’s in Applied Mathematics, Harvard, earned together in 3½ years. J.D.; admitted to the California bar.
  • MarketsHedge fund portfolio manager on Wall Street, including at Maymin Capital Management
  • CodeWolfram Innovator Award (2015). Wolfram One-Liner Competition winner 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019. MIT Sloan Sports Analytics research prize (2018) and hackathon (2020)
  • ResearchFounding managing editor, Algorithmic Finance. Author of Financial Hacking (World Scientific)
  • WritingForbes contributor on AI/SI and finance. Finalist, 2010 Bastiat Prize for Online Journalism
Press

For reporters and producers

Available for interviews on Super Intelligence policy, the SI Force, and the pause debate.

Short bio

Philip Maymin is a Forbes contributor on AI/SI and finance, a former hedge fund portfolio manager, and an attorney admitted in California. He holds a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago, where he studied under Nobel laureate Richard Thaler, and a bachelor’s in computer science (cum laude) and master’s in applied mathematics from Harvard, earned together in three and a half years. He has argued against pausing SI since 2023.

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