Trump Strikes Again with Startling Remarks: Who Still Dares to Say 'AI' Is the 'Enemy'! What's the Story?

(Photo source: Axios)

Why It Matters: Trump's attempt to rename "Artificial Intelligence" as "Super Intelligence" conflicts with the terminology system long established by the tech industry.

Trump's renaming initiative also blurs the line between artificial intelligence and super intelligence. "Super Intelligence" generally refers to a hypothetical form of AI whose intelligence level would surpass that of humans.

What Trump Said:

On Thursday, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: "The White House believes that anyone who uses the term 'Artificial Intelligence' rather than the now widely accepted, more accurate new term 'Super Intelligence' is an enemy!"

The Broader Context:

An executive order signed by Trump in September further reinforced the policy direction of replacing "AI" with "SI," though the order did not specify what penalties would apply for using the term "AI."

Notably, when defining "Super Intelligence" in this executive order, it actually directly adopted the US federal law definition of artificial intelligence.

The executive order also requires federal agencies to adjust how they describe artificial intelligence in official communications and documents.

Following Trump's speech at the United Nations on September 22, the State Department has already instructed diplomats to switch to using "Super Intelligence."

However, Awkwardly:

The White House itself continues to use "AI." For example, the website of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy still displays references to "artificial intelligence."

On Thursday, the White House updated its AI.gov website, changing the text on the page to display "SI.gov" in an extra-large font.

However, the website's URL remains "AI.gov," and directly accessing "SI.gov" leads to an error page.

Even more interestingly, when an Axios reporter asked the chatbot on the US government website America.gov about AI, the bot responded:

"The executive branch uses 'Super Intelligence' (SI) when discussing this topic, rather than the old term you used."

What to Watch Next:

Whether the White House will further update its various official websites to fully adopt Trump's preferred "Super Intelligence" terminology.

As of Thursday, the White House had not responded to Axios's request for comment.