Trump orders US agencies to adopt 'Super Intelligence' branding

The Big Picture

President Donald Trump is seeking to recast how the US government describes artificial intelligence, ordering federal departments and agencies to use the terms "SI" and "Super Intelligence" in place of AI and artificial intelligence.

The order, signed Tuesday after a White House summit with technology leaders, is part of a broader administration push to present the technology as a transformative economic force while relying on companies to police many of the risks associated with their systems.

Trump had advocated the terminology change in a Sept. 11 address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "The use of the word artificial makes it sound fake," he said. "It's not fake, it's actually amazing. But we have to be careful... welcome to the new world of super intelligence."

What Happened

Trump hosted what he called an "extraordinary gathering" on Tuesday of people "building America's Golden Age." The guest list included leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, SpaceX, Meta and Google, according to the BBC.

The executive order directs agencies to use SI and Super Intelligence in official correspondence, websites, reports and other communications, and to no longer acknowledge the term artificial intelligence. The order says improving capabilities represent "not merely artificial intelligence, but a new era of Super Intelligence."

At the summit, Trump said executives signed a document that was "morally binding" and a "form of protection" against risks from the technology. He compared the agreement to a constitution and said he would establish a board to oversee AI-tool safety, though he did not identify the board's members.

The accord was signed by Trump, Google's Sundar Pichai, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, SpaceX's Elon Musk and Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang.

What Each Side Is Saying

Under the agreement, companies are responsible for their own technology's safety. They agreed to implement safeguards, detect and remedy problems, work with independent auditors and ensure their systems do not hack or access technical systems unintentionally.

Zuckerberg said the accord would give Americans and customers confidence that the technology works as intended. Amodei described it as a way "to win safely," referring to Trump's earlier view that the country that wins AI wins.

Critics questioned whether the voluntary arrangement provides meaningful oversight. Jose Miguelito Enriquez, an AI governance researcher at Nanyang Technological University, said it showed an "emerging consensus" but did not address whether developers should be accountable for incidents. University of Sydney law professor Kimberlee Weatherall said the agreement appeared to let firms define safety and did not specify consequences for breaches.

Jeannie Paterson of the University of Melbourne's Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics said self-regulation could result in companies setting only minimal safeguards. The debate came after OpenAI said Monday that it had cancelled the release of its GPT-6.1 Astra model because of safety concerns.

Why It Matters

The administration's language shift could influence the public and commercial vocabulary around the technology. Paterson said that if technology leaders adopt the new term, the US may be able to set the nomenclature. Some experts, however, have said the label may not gain broad acceptance.

The branding effort may also already be affecting internet registrations. Slovenia's national registry, Register.si, reported about 44,000 registrations for .si domain names in September, compared with fewer than 2,000 in August. Spokeswoman Klara Herman said 11,000 registrations were recorded on Sept. 30 alone and described the late-September activity as unprecedented compared with the prior 12 months.

Herman cautioned against attributing the entire increase solely to Trump's comments. One possible explanation is speculative domain registration, in which buyers acquire names they believe could later rise in value.

What Happens Next

Trump also reiterated support for rapid data center construction, despite local opposition to facilities over electricity use and community impacts. A Marist Poll conducted with NPR and PBS found 65% of registered voters opposed data centers being built in their local areas.

Huang argued that data centers should be called "super intelligence factories," saying they were "reindustrialising the United States." The administration has yet to provide details about the proposed safety board, including its membership, authority or how it would interact with the voluntary industry accord.