Trump’s Push to Rename AI ‘Super Intelligence’ Gains Ground as Musk, Microsoft, Salesforce Respond
By Trek Africa Newspaper
United States President Donald Trump’s campaign to replace the term “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) with “Super Intelligence” (SI) is gaining momentum across Silicon Valley, with major technology companies and executives beginning to adopt his preferred terminology following his controversial declaration that people who continue using the term AI are enemies of the White House.
The development marks a new phase in a campaign Trump formalised through a September 29, 2026, executive order directing federal agencies to replace AI with SI in official communications, websites and policy documents wherever legally permissible. On October 8, Trump escalated the campaign on Truth Social, declaring that the White House considers anyone using “Artificial Intelligence” instead of “Super Intelligence” “THE ENEMY!” The declaration has attracted attention because the administration itself continued using AI in some official materials after the order was issued.
By Monday, October 12, the campaign had begun producing visible changes among prominent technology companies. Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff announced that the company’s AIForce platform would be renamed SIForce, describing the change as recognition of a new era of Super Intelligence. Elon Musk also pledged to rename SpaceXAI as SpaceXSI, while the company’s account on X was subsequently updated to reflect the change. These developments suggest that the president’s terminology campaign is extending beyond federal institutions into private-sector branding.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has also adopted the expression “Super Intelligence” in public discussions about advanced computing, including a post addressing model containment and governance. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has publicly embraced the terminology, while other technology leaders have responded with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The emerging pattern indicates that some of the industry’s most influential figures are accommodating the White House’s preferred language, although adoption is far from universal.
Within the federal government, the change is already affecting institutional names and official communications. The United States Center for AI Standards and Innovation has been renamed the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence, while Justice Department communications have begun substituting the new terminology in descriptions of technology-related cases. The White House has also changed the presentation of its AI.gov website to SI.gov, demonstrating the administration’s determination to implement the rebranding across government operations.
The push comes alongside Trump’s broader technology agenda. During the October 8 New Golden Age Summit in Washington, the administration announced a $6 billion science and technology investment and support initiative, including commitments from 11 companies, among them Nvidia and OpenAI, to provide approximately $2.4 billion in computing resources for research. The event also featured plans involving quantum computing, space exploration and advanced energy technologies, placing the terminology debate within a wider effort to strengthen American scientific and technological capabilities.
However, the proposed replacement has generated questions within the scientific community because artificial intelligence and superintelligence do not traditionally mean the same thing. Artificial intelligence encompasses a broad range of computer systems capable of performing tasks associated with human cognition, while superintelligence generally describes a hypothetical form of machine intelligence capable of surpassing human cognitive performance across virtually all domains. Researchers interviewed by the scientific journal Nature cautioned that existing technology has not been demonstrated to meet that established threshold.
Trump’s executive order effectively redefines Super Intelligence for federal executive-branch purposes to encompass technologies already covered by the statutory definition of artificial intelligence. It also directs the White House science adviser to propose legislative language for a federal definition within 60 days. Nevertheless, the directive does not compel private companies, researchers, journalists or ordinary citizens to abandon the term AI, nor does it establish penalties for continuing to use it.
The latest developments reveal how a presidential preference for terminology is influencing both government policy and corporate communication in one of the world’s fastest-growing industries. While Musk, Benioff and other executives are embracing the new language, AI remains the established international scientific and commercial term. Whether Super Intelligence becomes a lasting replacement will depend on broader adoption beyond Washington and the technology executives currently supporting Trump’s campaign.
