Trump pushes to rebrand AI as 'super intelligence' in bid to reshape tech narrative
By KRISTINE FRAZAO | The National News Desk
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 24: This illustration shows ChatGPT open on a computer screen in Melbourne, Australia, on September 24, 2026. Local media reported that an AI agent had "hacked a statistics portal containing private data from Australia's universal healthcare scheme, Medicare." Experts believe this was "the world's first known AI breach of a government system." (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump wants the government to stop using the term "artificial intelligence." He says the common name is inaccurate and should be replaced with what he calls "super" intelligence.
Trump posted online that he wants to officially ban the terms "AI" and "artificial intelligence" from all related government documents and other materials because he believes the terms are inaccurate. (TNND)
"We're leading everybody with what they called artificial intelligence. But I said it's not artificial. It's, it's really super," Trump said at a rally on October 14.
The president posted online that he wants the government to stop using the terms "AI" and "artificial intelligence" in all related documents and other materials because he believes they are inaccurate. The move follows an executive order Trump signed last month. That order called for similar changes in official letters, public messages, websites, reports and policy documents.
On Wednesday, Aalok Mehta, director of the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, discussed the issue in an interview with The National News Desk.
I think this push to rename AI is a recognition that the term has a public opinion problem. AI is very unpopular with the American public. We've seen this administration try to give new names to things that are unpopular before.
Mehta said the change might not have the effect Trump wants. "In a lot of ways, superintelligence sounds even more like something from science fiction, right? It goes even further toward suggesting that humans have invented something we may not be able to control," Mehta said.
The debate is taking place as some communities raise concerns about the data centers that power certain AI systems. Industry leaders also continue to warn about possible risks.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the seriousness of these risks while speaking at the Stanford Graduate School of Business last week:
I don't even know what a dramatic enough word to use, but the problem coming towards us is something that we, as organizational leaders, countries or individuals, have not taken seriously.
Altman added, "I no longer think we're going to be able to fix all the bugs. I think we're going to have to completely change our defense model and use the same technology to create a new kind of protective shield."
Trump can tell federal agencies which terms to use in their communications, but he does not have the legal power to stop people or companies from using the term "artificial intelligence."
Observers are now watching to see how widely the administration replaces these terms in official government documents. Ironically, carrying out the change could require the use of AI tools.