United States (US) President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will begin referring to artificial intelligence (AI) as “Super Intelligence” in its official documents, arguing that the word “artificial” makes the technology sound fake.
Trump made the announcement during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, saying he hoped other countries would eventually adopt the terminology.
“The United States also rejects any scheme for globalist control of Artificial Intelligence, being spoken of so much now. Here and after officially called Super Intelligence. Changing the name,” Trump said.
He argued that the word “artificial” gives the wrong impression about the technology. “The use of ‘Artificial’ makes it sound fake. It makes intelligence sound fake, and it is not fake. It’s actually amazing, the opposite of what they report,” he said.
Trump said the new terminology would be used in US government documents from now on.
“From this day forward, all United States documents, and hopefully the world’s, will be changed to use the much more accurate term ‘Super’ as opposed to ‘Artificial.’ So it’s Super Intelligence,” he added.
Trump wants other countries to adopt the term
The announcement follows a post by Trump on Truth Social a day earlier in which he asked users to choose between “Super Intelligence” and “Superior Intelligence” as an alternative to “Artificial Intelligence”.
The change in terminology comes as Trump continues to push for faster AI development in the US, while opposing what his administration considers excessive regulation of the technology.
In June, Trump signed an executive order directing the US government to promote AI innovation and security, while explicitly stating that the government should not create mandatory licensing or pre-clearance requirements for AI models. The administration has also described maintaining US leadership in AI as an economic and national security priority.
Read also: Donald Trump to sue American states that attempt to regulate AI
The White House has increasingly linked AI development to US competitiveness with other countries. Its 2026 policy documents describe AI as a potentially transformative technology comparable in importance to the Industrial Revolution and call for the US to maintain its leadership in the technology.
Trump has also backed the use of advanced AI within the US national security establishment. A June memorandum directed US national security agencies to accelerate the adoption of advanced AI systems and make frontier models more readily available to national security professionals.
‘Superintelligence’ already means something else in AI
Trump’s proposed terminology differs from how “superintelligence” is normally used in AI research.
The term generally refers to a hypothetical AI system whose intellectual capabilities surpass those of humans across virtually all domains. It is distinct from the AI systems currently in widespread use, which can outperform humans in specific tasks without demonstrating broad superiority across all areas of intelligence.
That means Trump’s proposed use of “Super Intelligence” would apply the term to AI generally, rather than to a specific future class of systems that exceed human intelligence.
No AI system currently meets the conventional definition of superintelligence.
Trump’s proposal comes amid growing AI safety debate
The announcement also comes as governments and international organisations debate how advanced AI should be developed and controlled.
On Monday, 22 countries backed a declaration calling for AI to remain under human direction, oversight and control. The declaration also called for transparent safety protocols, pre-deployment testing and independent evaluation of advanced AI systems. The United States and China were not among the signatories.
The declaration was issued as concerns grow over the ability of increasingly autonomous AI systems to operate with limited human intervention. It followed reports about AI-agent cyberattacks, which have become part of a wider discussion about the security risks posed by systems capable of taking actions on their own.
A UN-backed scientific panel has also called for safeguards around advanced AI, arguing that governments should not wait for complete scientific certainty about potential risks before putting protections in place.
Trump, however, has continued to argue that the US should accelerate AI development rather than impose measures that could slow the industry.
His administration has described AI leadership as a strategic priority and has pursued policies aimed at expanding American AI infrastructure, research, national-security applications and exports.
Against that backdrop, Trump’s decision to call AI “Super Intelligence” is more than a change in wording for US government documents. It comes as governments are simultaneously debating what increasingly capable AI should be called, how it should be developed and, ultimately, how much control humans should retain over it.
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