One month after President Trump signed an executive order rebranding artificial intelligence as “Super Intelligence”, MIT Technology Review reports the new term is failing to catch on — but the battle over the words we use for AI is quietly becoming a political loyalty test.
Donald Trump (Credits: MIT Technology Review)
Trump’s “Super Intelligence” Rebrand One Month Later
The order, signed at the end of September, directed government agencies to replace “artificial intelligence” with “Super Intelligence” (or “SI”). The term beat out alternatives including “Extreme Intelligence” and “Supreme Intelligence” in a poll on X. The stated rationale: today’s AI systems “amplify human ingenuity” rather than merely “imitate” intelligence.
But the rollout has been messy. “SI” now appears on government solicitations — including an ICE request for “SI-powered” surveillance of detention facilities — and the NIH warns visitors they may see both terms during the transition. The Pentagon’s new Project Meridian used the old terminology the day after the order, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth still said “AI” in an October 3 interview.
The “Super Intelligence” Loyalty Test
The pattern follows Trump’s other rebrands — the Gulf of America, the Department of War — where the name change becomes a test of allegiance. The Associated Press was barred from some White House events after refusing to adopt “Gulf of America.” Trump recently criticized the Wall Street Journal for not using “Super Intelligence,” calling it “the name which virtually everyone else is using, or soon will be,” and hinted at a rule going further to outright ban “artificial intelligence” from government documents.
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Source: MIT Technology Review — read the full story there.
