Here’s who is falling in line for Trump’s “Super Intelligence” loyalty test
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. At the end of September, President Trump signed an executive order that contained just one directive, ordering government agencies to rebrand what they had been calling artificial intelligence as “Super Intelligence.” That…
At the end of September, President Trump signed an executive order that ordered government agencies to rebrand artificial intelligence as "Super Intelligence." This terminology beats others like "Extreme Intelligence" and "Supreme Intelligence" which the president offered in a poll on X. The White House has a history of rebranding places and initiatives for projecting American dominance.
The order's justification is that modern AI systems "amplify human ingenuity" instead of merely "imitate" intelligence. The rebranding will extend beyond government as it transforms a choice of words into a political loyalty test. Using the new term shows allegiance to the administration, while non-adopters become targets for criticism.
Most Americans rarely ponder the term for the major lake between New York and Canada. AI, however, is at the center of the national conversation and a technology most Americans interact with frequently. The term "Super Intelligence" appears more often in government solicitations, like a new request by ICE for companies to build "SI-powered" surveillance.
It has been silently replaced on most government websites with a warning for visitors to see both the new and old terms during the transition period. Some government websites, including that of the National Institutes of Health, still include both terms. There have been some hiccups. The Pentagon used the old terminology for a new initiative, and a recent press release from Health and Human Services showed no sign of the new language.
"AI" will likely stick around due to numerous AI-related offices, initiatives, and programs. Most government employees take time to adopt "SI" instead of "AI". The rebranding is not just about changing government vocabulary; it aims to change how everyone speaks about AI. President Trump criticized the Wall Street Journal for not using the new term and suggested a ban on "artificial intelligence" in government documents.
However, other outlets like Newsmax are not using the preferred term. Big Tech executives' response to the rebranding is complicated. While some used "Super Intelligence" in a statement on AI safety, others like Zuckerberg and Musk used it inconsistently or not at all. The rebranding project costs time and taxpayer dollars, requiring federal agencies to draft a new legislative definition of "Super Intelligence."
Written by urgent.news from MIT Technology Review's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
