Trump orders US govt to replace 'AI' with 'Super Intelligence' in official use

WASHINGTON, Sept 30: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the federal government to replace the terms "artificial intelligence" and "AI" with "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in official communications, describing the change as necessary to reflect the rapid advancement of the technology.

The order, titled "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence," directs executive departments and agencies to use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports and policy documents, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

"I think I'm seeing tremendous self-policing. And they understand that they have to self -police, Trump said after the meeting, adding the White House accord on 'Super-Intelligence' is almost "like a Constitution.".

The order also directs agencies to "no longer acknowledge" the terms "artificial intelligence" and "AI," according to the White House.

The order further instructs the assistant to the president for science and technology to develop a federal definition of SI and recommend any additional executive actions needed to implement the new terminology.

"The term 'Super Intelligence' more appropriately captures the promise, potential, and rapidly advancing capabilities of these technologies," Trump wrote in the order.

The directive also says the executive branch "shall use the terms 'Super Intelligence' and 'SI' in place of 'Artificial Intelligence' and 'AI' and will not acknowledge the usage of 'Artificial Intelligence' and 'AI' in any applicable setting."

The order said the capabilities of modern frontier systems have moved well beyond the original concept of artificial intelligence, arguing that they increasingly amplify human ingenuity and enable new forms of creativity.

"The capabilities of today's frontier systems do much more than imitate or automate discrete aspects of human intelligence. They increasingly amplify human ingenuity and unlock new forms of creativity, empowering Americans to achieve what was previously impossible across science, medicine, and nearly every other domain of human endeavor," the order stated.

Trump argued in the order that AI no longer reflects the technology's rapidly advancing capabilities, saying SI better captures its promise and potential.

"The term 'Super Intelligence' more appropriately captures the promise, potential, and rapidly advancing capabilities of these technologies," Trump wrote.

He also wrote that modern AI systems are increasingly amplifying human ingenuity and unlocking new forms of creativity, arguing they represent the beginning of a new era of SI.

However, Trump said that the US government would never limit development of artificial intelligence or support calls for "guardrails" or other restrictions.

" I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution," he said at the unveiling of an AI chatbot , America.gov, intented to help Americans navigate government services.

The directive does not retroactively change previously issued regulations, existing government contracts, grants or historical archival records.

It also directs the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology to develop a federal definition of SI and recommend further executive action required to implement the terminology. The official has been given 60 days to submit proposed legislative language to Congress for an updated statutory definition and related amendments to existing US laws.

Until then, the administration will apply the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence under Title 15 of the US Code to "Super Intelligence."

Trump had called for the terminology change during his address to the United Nations General Assembly last week.

"Whoever wins AI, you have to remember this, and now I say whoever wins SI, whoever wins superintelligence, wins. That's the group that wins," Trump said.

The executive order followed a White House summit with leading technology executives, including SpaceX and Tesla chief Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.

Trump said executives at the gathering had signed a document dubbed the White House Accord on Super Intelligence, describing it as a voluntary but significant commitment.

"They almost viewed it as a separate kind of constitution," Trump said of the technology leaders. "When they signed that, it meant a lot."

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the discussions focused on striking "the right balance" between the interests of Americans, technological development and maintaining the United States' competitive edge over China.

"This is a statement of principles that you'll see, a statement of standards, commitments that are voluntary on behalf of the industry. It sets forth expectations," Johnson said. "It's, in short, summary, robust internal controls and layers of internal and external review."

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg later described the summit as a "positive step".

"I think it's a significant positive step that the leaders of every major American lab have committed to implementing robust internal controls and multiple layers of audits and reviews," Zuckerberg wrote on X.

"This should give people more confidence that the technology each lab is building will work as intended."

(UNI)