U.S. President Donald Trump announced at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2026, that the U.S. government will officially refer to artificial intelligence as 'super intelligence' in all official communications. The change, which Trump described as more accurate, will apply to U.S. government documents, with the president expressing hope that the global community would adopt the new terminology.
Key developments:
- Trump justified the renaming by arguing that the term 'artificial' undermines the significance of the technology, stating it makes intelligence sound 'fake' despite its transformative potential.
- The announcement followed two social media polls on X (formerly Twitter) and Truth Social, where Trump sought public input on alternative names. The final choice, 'Super Intelligence', won a second poll against 'Superior Intelligence' and was adopted immediately in his communications.
Rationale and implementation:
Trump framed the terminology shift as a matter of accuracy and national leadership, asserting that 'super intelligence' better reflects the technology’s capabilities. He acknowledged uncertainty about the change’s enforceability, stating: 'Let’s see if I have any power. Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t, we’re gonna find out pretty soon.' The administration has not specified a timeline for implementation or outlined enforcement mechanisms.
The president also introduced the abbreviation 'SI' for 'super intelligence' and tied the rebranding to broader U.S. technological leadership, declaring: 'Whoever wins super intelligence—whoever wins super intelligence—wins.' He emphasized that the U.S. would 'lead the world in super intelligence and will continue to do so safely and responsibly.'
Global AI governance tensions:
The announcement coincided with ongoing international discussions about AI regulation. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres had earlier urged world leaders to establish binding safety measures for advanced AI, warning that the technology’s rapid advancement could outpace humanity’s ability to control it. Guterres stated: 'Killer robots must have no place in our future.'
Trump rejected global oversight efforts, calling them a 'globalist scheme' to control AI development. He drew parallels between warnings about AI and prior claims about climate change, stating: 'The very same people who said we’ll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming... are now saying that AI is going to kill us all.' He added that the U.S. would 'totally reject any attempt to construct a globality scheme to control... super intelligence.'
Policy and industry responses:
The rebranding announcement followed Trump’s proposal to create an 'AI Force', modeled after the U.S. Space Force, and his pledge to appoint an 'AI czar' with a requirement for 'High I.Q. individuals.' Industry leaders, including Sam Altman (OpenAI) and Dario Amodei (Anthropic), were scheduled to address the U.N. Security Council later that week to debate AI safety regulations.
Investor reactions reflected optimism about AI’s economic potential, with technology stocks rallying ahead of the U.N. meetings. However, the terminology change itself has no legal or technical bearing on AI development, as 'artificial intelligence' remains the widely accepted term in academic, corporate, and regulatory contexts.
Historical context of the term:
The term 'artificial intelligence' was coined in 1955 by John McCarthy and colleagues in a proposal for a Dartmouth College conference, which marked the formal beginning of AI as a field of study. Alternative terms like 'cybernetics' and 'automata studies' were also used in early discussions, but 'AI' became the dominant terminology over decades of research and commercialization.
Reactions and implications:
While Trump framed the change as a national leadership move, critics and analysts noted that the terminology shift has no binding authority outside U.S. government communications. The move aligns with Trump’s history of rebranding initiatives, including renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the 'Gulf of America' and proposing to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America.'
The announcement underscores broader tensions between U.S. technological competitiveness and global calls for AI regulation, with the terminology change serving as both a symbolic and rhetorical tool in ongoing debates about the technology’s future.