Donald Trump says US to ban 'artificial intelligence' term, pushes 'super intelligence'

US president Donald Trump on Tuesday [local time] said his administration would ban the use of the terms “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in relevant federal government documents, pushing for their replacement with “Super Intelligence” and “SI” on the grounds that the existing terminology no longer accurately reflects the capabilities of advanced technology.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump questioned the continued use of the term by The Wall Street Journal and called for a shift towards the alternative terminology.

“When will The Wall Street Journal start calling Artificial Intelligence (AI), a very bad and inaccurate name, SI (Super Intelligence), the name which virtually everyone else is using, or soon will be,” Trump said.


“In short order, we will be officially BANNING the term, ‘AI/Artificial Intelligence,’ in all relevant documents, and everything else, due to its inaccuracy. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.

Trump's remarks followed an executive order he signed earlier on September 30, titled “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence”, directing federal executive departments and agencies to replace “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” with “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in official communications and operations, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Under the order, the revised terminology is to be adopted in government correspondence, public communications, official websites, reports and administrative policy documents. However, the directive clarifies that previously issued regulations, existing government contracts, grants and historical archival records will not be retroactively altered.

Explaining the rationale behind the change, the executive order stated that technological advances had outgrown the original framework used to describe artificial intelligence.

“The capabilities of today’s frontier systems do much more than imitate or automate discrete aspects of human intelligence. They increasingly amplify human ingenuity and unlock new forms of creativity, empowering Americans to achieve what was previously impossible across science, medicine, and nearly every other domain of human endeavor,” the order stated.

The directive also sets a 60-day deadline for the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology to submit proposed legislative language to Congress establishing an updated federal statutory definition of “Super Intelligence” and recommending corresponding amendments to existing laws.

The move comes after Trump hosted leading technology executives, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jensen Huang, at the White House for discussions on technological advancement and the safe development of advanced systems.

During the meeting, Trump described the sector's growth as unprecedented, while industry leaders emphasised collaboration and safety in developing emerging technologies.

The proposed terminology change marks a significant shift in how the administration intends to describe advanced technology across federal operations.