Amid many thorny issues with China, Trump pushes to rename AI as superintelligence

US President Donald Trump is advocating for a renaming of artificial intelligence (AI) to "superintelligence" (SI), suggesting the term be used by the entire world. At the United Nations General Assembly, Trump proposed this change and requested that the US State Department instruct diplomats to use SI in all communications. His push for this linguistic shift occurred during a high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which occurred amid discussions about AI risks and collaboration between the two nations.

Following the summit, Trump boasted that the new term was "more elegant" and "more accurate" than the existing AI designation. However, China's official summary of the summit did not include the new term, opting instead for "China-US AI dialogue". A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson only confirmed that Beijing respected the US's choice of terminology.

AI technology, which employs data and algorithms to create intelligent machines, has recently been challenged as it rapidly advances. Some experts, including the pioneering figures in AI research, have voiced concerns that SI, a hypothetical system surpassing human intelligence in all domains, could present unprecedented risks to humanity.

The motivation behind Trump's push for this change is unclear; he has previously criticized the term due to its perceived inaccuracy. As AI infrastructure, particularly data centers, faces increasing public opposition and scrutiny over its risks, a recent poll revealed that 61% of voters opposed the construction of such facilities.

Additionally, progressive lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban the development of SI, a move Trump has dismissed as a "hoax".