U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that anyone who does not use his preferred term "Super Intelligence" (SI) will be regarded as an "enemy" of the White House.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "To anyone using the term 'Artificial Intelligence' instead of the widely recognized, newer and more accurate term 'Super Intelligence,' the White House views you as — an ENEMY!"
Trump's remarks suggest that the White House could penalize companies or individuals who fail to follow his preferred language standards. Critics point out that if such measures were actually implemented, they would constitute a textbook violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Although some tech companies, including Meta — which has its own "Superintelligence Lab" — had already used the concept of "superintelligence" in their branding before Trump took this step, their wording at the time was more focused on the future development of artificial intelligence rather than a outright rejection of the term itself.
After meeting with U.S. tech industry leaders at the White House in late September, Trump signed an executive order requiring federal departments and agencies, "to the maximum extent permitted by law," to use the term "Super Intelligence" (SI) instead of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI) in official correspondence, public communications, websites and other official messaging.
The order does not apply to private companies such as OpenAI, because the White House has no authority to enforce such measures on them.
Following Trump's remarks and the executive order, at least one company complied with the White House's wishes. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on X that the space and technology company would rename its artificial intelligence division "SpaceXAI" to "SpaceXSI."
If Musk follows through on that promise, it would be the second rename this year for the company originally known as xAI. SpaceX announced in February that it was acquiring xAI, the developer of the chatbot Grok, and renamed the division SpaceXAI in July.
As of Thursday afternoon local time, the X account for SpaceXAI still displayed the name "SpaceXAI." It remains to be seen what other leading AI and tech companies will do.
On the day of the high-profile AI luncheon, Trump expressed his preference, and a slightly awkward moment followed. During a panel discussion at the White House, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang misspoke and said "AI" instead of "SI," then quickly corrected himself.
OpenAI President Greg Brockman, speaking with Trump just steps away, said the company is committed to "building artificial intelligence" for the benefit of all.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently denied in an interview that the company might rename "artificial intelligence." "There are no plans for that," he said on a podcast. "But we have been discussing 'superintelligence' frequently, and we will continue to explore that topic in the future."