Trump’s Push to Rename AI as “Super Intelligence” Faces Political and Linguistic Obstacles

Summary

The article analyzes President Donald Trump’s campaign to replace the term “artificial intelligence” with “super intelligence,” presenting it as both a policy directive and a political rebranding effort. Trump has argued that “artificial” makes intelligence sound fake, while promoting faster frontier-AI development, more data centers, and less emphasis on safety risks. After a United Nations speech, he issued an executive order directing agencies to avoid “AI” where possible. The terminology has already appeared in government changes, including the renaming of the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence and Justice Department language describing “Super Intelligence-Assisted Music Streaming Fraud.” Trump also called people who continue using “artificial intelligence” “the enemy.” Some prominent technology executives, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Jensen Huang, and Sam Altman, have publicly entertained or endorsed the new wording, although OpenAI will not change its name. The author argues that “superintelligence” traditionally refers to hypothetical or highly advanced systems exceeding human thought, rather than AI as a whole, so applying it to every AI system could make the term less precise. The effort also risks branding ordinary products and older generative tools as “superintelligent.” Trump cannot prevent Congress from using the existing term, which remains embedded in laws, and lawmakers may resist a label associated with his pro-industry and anti-regulatory position. The article concludes that a new euphemism is unlikely to resolve public concerns about data centers and the broader AI industry, and may instead expose the weakness of the rebranding campaign.