President Donald Trump announced via social media on Tuesday that his administration will soon officially ban the term "AI/Artificial Intelligence" in all relevant documents due to perceived inaccuracies. This follows an executive order issued on September 29 requiring federal officials to adopt the alternative term "Super Intelligence" instead. The latest push appears driven by frustration with major news outlets, specifically criticizing the Wall Street Journal for continuing to use traditional phrasing rather than the administration's preferred nomenclature.
While legal constraints prevent the administration from mandating specific terminology for independent journalists, tech executives face mounting pressure to comply. Silicon Valley leaders have shown mixed reactions to the rebranding effort. Elon Musk has publicly embraced the shift, going so far as to suggest altering a SpaceX division name to reflect the new acronym. Conversely, other high-profile figures like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have largely avoided adopting the specific two-word phrasing.
Despite public commitments from some tech figures who previously stood alongside the president during a White House press briefing, slip-ups remain common. Musk recently used the prohibited phrasing when discussing energy infrastructure on social media, highlighting the difficulty of completely eliminating the entrenched industry term. As the administration explores potential enforcement mechanisms to back the executive order, tech companies navigating federal compliance will need to decide how strictly they align their internal and external documentation with the mandated vocabulary.
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