Trump Orders U.S. Government Documents to Rename "Artificial Intelligence" as "Super Intelligence"

During his speech to the UN General Assembly, Donald Trump announced that, going forward, all United States government documents would use the term "super intelligence" (SI) instead of "artificial intelligence" (AI). It's not just rhetorical flourish: U.S. representatives already used the term "SI" in a subsequent UN Security Council session on AI.

What Trump said, and why

Trump argued that the word "artificial" gives the term a negative connotation, making the technology sound fake. In his words, using "artificial" makes AI "sound fake, and it's not." According to the president, "super" is a "much more accurate" term, and he expressed hope that the rest of the world would adopt the change too.

The announcement came right after leaders from more than 20 countries, mostly European, called the previous Monday for binding controls on AI development — and ahead of a Security Council session on artificial intelligence attended by Sam Altman (OpenAI's CEO), Dario Amodei (Anthropic's CEO), and Clément Delangue (Hugging Face co-founder). In the same speech, Trump reaffirmed his stance against imposing specific AI regulation at the federal level.

An ambiguity that isn't trivial

For years, AI researchers have used the term "superintelligence" (or "artificial superintelligence," ASI) to refer specifically to a type of system that doesn't yet exist: an artificial intelligence that surpasses the most capable human mind at virtually every task. It's not entirely clear whether Trump is using the term in that technical sense — suggesting the U.S. is already working toward superintelligence — or simply asserting, in promotional tone, that today's AI is already "super." Industry reaction was mixed; some AI startup executives responded with sarcastic comments on social media about the change.

What this means for companies operating with or toward the United States

For now, it's unclear how uniformly and mandatorily the term "SI" will be adopted across federal agencies — the announcement was made in a speech, not (yet) as a formal executive order with detailed enforcement mechanisms. Even so, any company drafting proposals, contracts, or compliance documentation aimed at the U.S. government should monitor whether the agencies it works with start requiring the new term in RFPs, procurement policies, or contract language.

Beyond formal compliance, the episode is a reminder that AI terminology remains politically contested, even at the highest level. For consultancies and AI providers operating in regulated markets, it's worth distinguishing in client communication between the colloquial use of these terms (marketing, political speech) and the technical and legal definitions that actually determine compliance obligations — which in the United States, for now, remain centered on frameworks like the AI Action Plan and prior executive orders on AI, not on whatever name gets attached to the concept.