Trump Proposes Renaming AI to 'Super Intelligence'

<p>President Trump is advocating for world leaders and U.S. agencies to rename artificial intelligence (AI) as "super intelligence."</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> The term "superintelligence" already has a specific meaning in the AI field and is contributing to discussions about whether the development of advanced systems should be slowed or halted.</p><hr /><p><strong>The big picture:</strong> Superintelligence refers to AI that exceeds human cognitive abilities and has become a goal for the industry, as well as a focal point for efforts to regulate its development.</p><p><strong>Yes, but:</strong> Trump appears to be using the term differently than its established meaning.</p><ul><li>He stated, "The use of the word 'artificial' ... makes it sound fake," and emphasized that AI is "actually amazing." </li><li>Trump announced that all U.S. documents, and ideally global documents, would be changed to use the term "super" instead of "artificial." </li><li>He mentioned that China's Xi Jinping "seemed to like" the idea.</li><li>The White House did not respond to inquiries regarding whether they considered the existing meaning of the term when Trump proposed the change.</li></ul><h2>Defining superintelligence</h2><p><strong>Situational awareness:</strong> Philosopher Nick Bostrom is credited with popularizing the term. </p><ul><li>In his 2014 book, "Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies," he defined it as "any intellect that greatly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in virtually all domains of interest." </li></ul><p><strong>Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg</strong> has also frequently used the term, including in the name of Meta's AI division.</p><h2>The industry view</h2><p><strong>OpenAI noted</strong> in a 2023 memo that superintelligence "will be the most impactful technology humanity has ever invented." </p><ul><li>However, it also warned that it "could lead to the disempowerment of humanity or even human extinction." </li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying:</strong> Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at Anthropic, expressed concerns that organizations like OpenAI and Anthropic are "racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives." </p><ul><li>A petition for a moratorium on superintelligence development has been signed by notable figures such as Geoffrey Hinton and Steve Wozniak.</li><li>A proposal from the AI Futures Project called for delaying the development of superintelligence until 2040.</li></ul><h2>Where AI stands now</h2><p>OpenAI president Greg Brockman recently predicted that the company's GPT-6 Astra model could mark the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI).</p><ul><li>While the definition of AGI is not entirely clear, Google's DeepMind researchers noted that current AI models are already superhuman in many respects.</li></ul><p><strong>What we're watching:</strong> The definitions of AGI and superintelligence remain ambiguous, but Trump's proposed label is entering a space where "superintelligence" already has a defined meaning.</p><p><strong>Go deeper:</strong> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/09/23/ai-leaders-un-security-council-global-safeguards">"We have a choice": AI leaders sound alarm at UN</a></p>