The words “Artificial Intelligence” may be getting a makeover in the U.S. government.
During his address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2026, President Donald Trump said the United States would begin referring to Artificial Intelligence as “Super Intelligence.”
He introduced the abbreviation “SI” and said the word “artificial” makes intelligence sound fake.
“Super Intelligence,” he argued, better reflects what the technology has become.
But there is a catch: superintelligence is already an established term in AI research, and it generally refers to something much more advanced than the AI systems people use today.
And now the terminology is moving beyond Trump’s speech.
The U.S. State Department has instructed diplomats in its Bureau of International Organization Affairs to use “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence” in their communications.
So what exactly is happening?
Table of Contents
- Trump Declares a New Name for AI
- Why Trump Wants to Drop the Word “Artificial”
- The U.S. Government Has Started Using “Super Intelligence”
- What Does Superintelligence Actually Mean?
- Is Today’s AI Really Superintelligent?
- AI, AGI, ASI & SI Explained
- Why the New Name Is Technically Complicated
- Will the World Start Calling AI “SI”?
- What This Could Mean for the AI Industry
- Conclusion
Trump Declares a New Name for AI
Trump made the announcement during his speech at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
He said that, from that point forward, U.S. government documents would use “Super Intelligence” instead of “Artificial Intelligence.”
He also stated he expected the rest of the world would adopt the terminology.
Trump then introduced the abbreviation:
SI.
The announcement was part of a broader discussion about the future of AI, its economic importance and the debate over whether governments should impose additional international controls on the technology.
For now, however, this is primarily a government terminology change, rather than a scientific reclassification of AI.
Why Trump Wants to Drop the Word “Artificial”
Trump’s reasoning is fairly straightforward.
He argued that “artificial” makes intelligence sound fake, while modern AI systems are producing increasingly real-world results.
In his UN speech, he described the technology as “amazing” and said the United States would encourage its development rather than stifle it.
But “artificial” does not technically mean fake.
In the phrase Artificial Intelligence, it refers to intelligence produced through artificial or computational systems rather than biological human brains.
So the proposed change is largely about how the technology is described, rather than how it works.
The U.S. Government Has Started Using “Super Intelligence”
This is where the saga gets more interesting.
The announcement did not simply vanish after the UN speech.
On September 23, the Associated Press reported that the State Department had instructed diplomats in its international organizations bureau to use “super intelligence” in Lieu of “artificial intelligence” in communications.
That means the terminology has already moved from Trump’s public remarks into at least one area of official government communication.
It does not, however, mean that the entire U.S. government—or the global technology industry—has abandoned the term AI.
For now, AI remains the standard term used throughout the technology industry and scientific community.
What Does Superintelligence Actually Mean?
Here is where the terminology becomes complicated.
In AI research, superintelligence generally refers to a hypothetical form of intelligence that would significantly surpass human intellectual abilities across a wide range of tasks.
That is considerably more audacious than today’s typical AI applications.
A superintelligent system would theoretically outperform humans in areas such as:
- Scientific research
- Mathematics
- Engineering
- Strategic reasoning
- Complex problem-solving
- Programming
- Knowledge discovery
- Other forms of intellectual work
It would not simply be a chat interface that writes refined answers.
It might represent a fundamentally different level of machine capability.
And that is why Trump’s use of the term has attracted attention in the technology world.
Is Today’s AI Really Superintelligent?
Not according to the conventional technical definition.
Today’s AI can be remarkably capable.
It can write software, generate images, summarize books, analyze data, translate languages and assist with research.
But capability in many individual tasks does not automatically equal superintelligence.
The technical concept generally describes an intelligence that surpasses humans across a much broader range of cognitive abilities.
That distinction matters because Trump’s use of “Super Intelligence” is a naming decision, while researchers generally use superintelligence to describe a potential future level of AI capability.
The same words can therefore have two different contexts.
AI, AGI, ASI and SI Explained
If the AI alphabet is starting to feel like a password, here’s the simple version.
| Term | What it means |
| AI | Artificial Intelligence — the broad field of machines performing tasks associated with intelligence |
| Generative AI | AI that creates content such as text, images, audio, video or code |
| AGI | Artificial General Intelligence — a hypothetical AI with broad, general-purpose intellectual abilities |
| ASI | Artificial Superintelligence — a hypothetical AI that surpasses humans across a very broad range of intellectual tasks |
| SI | “Super Intelligence” — the term Trump proposed using instead of Artificial Intelligence in U.S. government documents |
The biggest potential source of confusion is SI versus ASI.
In technical discussions, ASI usually means Artificial Superintelligence.
Trump’s SI is being presented as a replacement name for the broader category currently called AI.
They should not automatically be treated as the same thing.
Why the New Name Is Technically Complicated
There is a contradiction in the announcement.
Scientists and AI researchers already use the word superintelligence to describe a hypothetical system that would exceed human intelligence on a massive scale.
Trump is using the phrase as a replacement for the much broader term Artificial Intelligence.
That means a technology that includes today’s chatbots, image generators and AI assistants could now be described by a term that researchers often reserve for a much more advanced concept.
It is a little like calling every smartphone a supercomputer.
Technically, your phone is doing things computers once needed entire rooms to accomplish.
But that does not mean it has suddenly become a scientific supercomputer.
Names can describe expectations.
Capabilities are another matter.
Will the World Start Calling AI “SI”?
That remains unvivid.
Trump explicitly said he hoped the rest of the world would adopt the terminology, but there is no indication that the global technology industry has agreed to replace “AI.”
The term Artificial Intelligence is deeply established. Modifying that vocabulary globally would require much more than a presidential announcement.
For now, AI remains a major force outside the government communications affected by the new directive.
What This Could Mean for the AI Industry
The terminology debate comes as governments and technology companies are already wrestling with much larger questions surrounding AI.
The technology is becoming increasingly capable, while debates continue over regulation, safety, copyright, employment, computing infrastructure and the use of AI in sensitive areas.
Trump’s UN speech reiterated continued development and U.S. leadership in the technology.
He also declined what he described as attempts to create international control over AI and said the United States would encourage its development while monitoring the industry through existing law-enforcement mechanisms.
That makes the “SI” announcement part of a larger policy conversation.
The name may grab the headlines, but the more consequential question is what governments ultimately decide to do with increasingly capable AI.
Conclusion
Trump’s proposal to replace Artificial Intelligence with Super Intelligence is more than a vocabulary Variation
The interesting question is not whether AI has become “superintelligence,” but whether the new name reflects a technical understanding of the term—or simply a political rebranding of the technology.
AI researchers generally use “superintelligence” to describe a hypothetical level of machine intelligence that would surpass humans across a wide range of intellectual abilities. What do you think? Please share your views on this.
