President Donald Trump has issued an executive order mandating the term “super intelligence” replace “artificial intelligence” across federal agencies, a rebranding effort coming weeks before midterm elections. This move occurs amidst growing public concern over AI’s rapid advancements and decreasing approval for Trump’s handling of the technology in recent polls. Despite a meeting with top tech executives who signed a “morally binding” accord on AI safety, Trump largely dismisses the risks, prioritizing U.S. dominance in the AI landscape.
In a bold move signaling a significant shift in rhetoric, President Donald Trump has issued an executive order mandating that all executive branch departments and agencies officially adopt the term "super intelligence" in place of "artificial intelligence." This directive, announced following a White House luncheon with leading tech executives, reflects the President's ongoing effort to rebrand a rapidly evolving industry, even as public opinion polls reveal mounting apprehension among Americans regarding AI's rapid advance.
The rebranding initiative arrives just weeks before crucial midterm elections, which appear increasingly influenced by voters' concerns about AI technology. Recent surveys indicate that a majority of Americans express unease about AI and disapprove of President Trump's approach to the issue. Despite this, Trump, who champions the goal of U.S. dominance over China in the AI race, has publicly dismissed warnings about the technology as a "hoax"—a stance that contrasts with the cautionary notes raised by some of the very executives he hosted.
The executive order, provocatively titled "Inaugurating The Era Of Super Intelligence," aims to "recognize the continuously advancing technological frontier and the limitless promise it offers the American people," according to a White House fact sheet. This directive mandates the exclusive use of "super intelligence" in all official executive branch communications, policies, and documents, effectively disavowing the terms "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI."
Earlier in the day, President Trump, speaking to reporters outside the White House's West Wing, suggested that a document establishing the new nomenclature had been signed by the assembled tech leaders. "We've changed the name officially today," Trump asserted, adding, "The name has been officially changed by the biggest, the smartest, the greatest people anywhere in the world."
However, it appears the tech executives signed a separate, two-page document, which Trump later shared on his Truth Social account. This document, dubbed the "White House Accord on Super Intelligence" and subtitled "Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities," notably refrains from declaring a name change. Instead, it outlines a shared belief that "every company is responsible for developing its own technology safely and in a way that builds trust."
The accord calls for implementing "robust internal processes and controls to ensure that their technology behaves as intended" and recommends four additional layers of control. Signatories committed to regular meetings to establish safety standards, with the understanding that these steps might eventually be codified into laws or regulations. The signatories include Google's Sundar Pichai, Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. When pressed on the binding nature of the document, Trump declared it "morally binding."
This isn't President Trump's first attempt at a significant rebranding. He previously crowdfunded a new name for AI via social media and, last month, signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America." A similar order was issued last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America."
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who also attended the luncheon, characterized the signed document as a "statement of principles" comprising "voluntary" industry commitments, "robust internal controls," and "layers of internal and external review." Johnson emphasized that "Safety and innovation are not mutually exclusive pursuits."
However, when questioned about concerns regarding AI and the need for government-mandated safety guardrails, Trump dismissed the worries, stating, "Because we have people that love our country and love the world a lot." He also shrugged off concerns that his strong advocacy for AI and data centers might negatively impact Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections, declaring, "I just have to do what's right."
Senator Mark R. Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sharply criticized Trump's approach, labeling it as unserious about the inherent risks of AI. Warner stated, "The companies building the most powerful AI systems are warning us that the technology is advancing faster than our safeguards. The president's response? To rename it and tell the companies developing it to regulate themselves." He added, "But changing what we call artificial intelligence does nothing to address the very real risks that come with increasingly powerful AI systems." A Quinnipiac University poll, released concurrently with these developments, revealed a low 25% approval rating for Trump's handling of AI, significantly lower than his ratings on other key issues like the economy or U.S.-China policy.
