ALBAWABA- US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the United States will officially rename artificial intelligence (AI) “super intelligence” (SI), saying he would sign an executive order formalizing the change in federal government usage.
Speaking at the launch of the new America.gov government portal in Washington, Trump said the United States would henceforth refer to the technology as “super intelligence.” “That’s the official name in the United States,” he said, adding that he would sign a “very powerful executive order.”
Trump first announced the proposed terminology change during his address to the UN General Assembly on September 22, saying US documents would use “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence.” The White House subsequently described AI as “hereinafter officially called ‘Super Intelligence’” in its account of his speech.
BREAKING: President Trump says that he and tech leaders have officially changed the name of AI to 'Super Intelligence.' pic.twitter.com/MkuWluXqEu
The announcement comes as Trump has made US dominance in advanced AI a central element of his technology and national-security agenda. At the UN, he said the United States was far ahead of China in the technology and argued that whoever wins the race for “super intelligence” would gain a decisive advantage. He also rejected international efforts to establish what he called global control over AI.
The issue featured prominently in Trump's recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Washington and Beijing subsequently agreed to establish a dialogue on the risks and benefits of the technology and create a communication channel for AI-related incidents. The White House said the two sides agreed to use the term “super intelligence” in place of “artificial intelligence.”
Trump's announcement also comes amid growing debate over AI safety. Some technology executives and researchers have warned that increasingly autonomous systems could create serious risks and have called for safeguards or slower development. Trump, by contrast, has repeatedly stressed continued technological expansion and US leadership, while arguing that existing government agencies can address abuses and risks.
The terminology change does not mean that the global technical field has abandoned the term artificial intelligence. “Superintelligence” already has a distinct meaning in AI research, generally referring to hypothetical systems whose intellectual capabilities exceed those of humans. The White House's 2026 Economic Report, for example, distinguishes between AI, artificial general intelligence, and superintelligence.
Trump's announcement therefore represents a proposed US government rebranding rather than a change to the established scientific terminology. Its significance lies in the administration's broader effort to present advanced AI as a strategic technology in which maintaining American leadership is a national priority, even as Washington, Beijing and technology companies debate how rapidly the technology should develop and how it should be governed.
Dr. Mansour Al-Maswari is Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University-Global Center, Amman. A Yemeni academician with a Ph.D. in English "Comparative Literature" and two MA degrees, one in political science and the other in English, Dr. Al-Maswari possesses more than 17 years of extensive experience in university-level teaching, research, research reviewing, bilingual translation, and copy-writing...
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