Top White House tech adviser Ryan Baasch to depart

Ryan Baasch, a White House AI adviser and top deputy to National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, is leaving the White House for a private-sector job.

Why it matters: Baasch served as an aide to former AI and crypto czar David Sacks and played a lead tech policy role at the National Economic Council under Hassett.

Zoom in: The council touches the major pillars of the U.S. economy — tax, finance, banking, technology, competition policy, agriculture, energy, housing, infrastructure, transportation, economic security, foreign investments and export controls.

• Under Sacks, Baasch played a critical role devising the White House's National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence.
• He worked closely with the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, and across the federal government to advance President Trump's priorities on consumer protection and competition policy.
• Baasch leaves his official posts — Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council — at the end of the month.

Zoom out: Baasch's departure follows numerous others in the administration as Trump faces his final midterm and last two years in office.

What they're saying: Sacks called Baasch "a generational talent" who "has been instrumental in delivering on President Trump's plans for American AI dominance."

• "I'm confident he will continue to be an absolute rock star in his next endeavor," Sacks said.
• Hassett praised his "deep well of legal experience in the area of technology policy" and said he's "been an invaluable asset to the President and the NEC team since the beginning of this administration. From space policy to spectrum to antitrust, there is hardly any area that hasn't been touched by his steady hands."