Trump declares US will officially call AI "super intelligence" to avoid connotations of fakeness

During a Tuesday address to the UN General Assembly, Donald Trump announced that the United States would henceforth refer to artificial intelligence as "super intelligence"—a rebranding he claims makes the technology sound more credible and accurate.

The reasoning behind the terminology shift#

Trump's rationale centers on a linguistic argument: he believes the term "artificial" carries connotations of falsity that mislead people about the actual capabilities of AI systems. According to his view, swapping it for "super intelligence" better reflects the genuine power of the technology. "It makes it sound fake, and it is not fake," he said, arguing the new terminology is "much more accurate" and "sounds much better."

Government adoption and international scope#

Trump indicated that U.S. government documents would transition to using "super intelligence" (abbreviated as SI) going forward, and he expressed hope that other nations would follow suit. However, he acknowledged uncertainty about whether his administration has the authority to enforce such a change broadly, noting with characteristic ambiguity: "Let's see if I have any power. Maybe I do, and maybe I don't, we're gonna find out pretty soon."

This mirrors previous naming efforts by Trump, including attempts to rename geographic landmarks and federal institutions, which have seen varying degrees of implementation across digital platforms and official channels.

Positioning the US in AI competition#

Trump framed the terminology shift within a broader competitive narrative, asserting that "whoever wins super intelligence wins" globally. He claimed the United States currently leads China and other nations in AI development and pledged to protect that advantage through measured oversight and continued investment rather than restrictive regulation.

He rejected what he characterized as alarmism about AI risks, comparing current warnings to previous concerns he associates with other policy debates, while emphasizing that his administration would "encourage" the technology's growth while monitoring it through law enforcement agencies.