On September 22, 2026, in his address to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump said the United States will stop calling the technology "artificial intelligence" and call it "Super Intelligence" (SI) instead. The change applies to US government documents. It does not bind private companies, other governments, academic publishing, or the news media, and as of September 23, 2026 no executive order putting the rename into writing has been published.
Short version: the name changed in one place, and almost nothing else did. Below are the exact quotes, the scope of the change, a side-by-side table of what does and does not change, and the three things worth watching next.
What Trump actually said at the UN
The AI passage came near the end of a speech that was mostly about foreign policy. The White House published the line in its official readout the same day:
"The United States totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme of control for the Artificial Intelligence being spoken of so much now — hereinafter officially called 'Super Intelligence.'"
From the speech itself, as transcribed by Axios and Gizmodo:
"From this point forward, all of 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 also said "welcome to the new world of Super Intelligence – SI," and on regulation: "I'm not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution… we will only encourage super intelligence. We're going to encourage it, not rein it in." (Axios, Gizmodo, The Hill.)
Asked whether other countries would follow, he answered: "Let's see if I have any power… We're gonna find out pretty soon." The speaker himself treats compliance outside the US federal government as an open question.
Why he objects to the word "artificial"
The stated reason is connotation, not technical accuracy: "artificial" makes the technology sound fake when, in his words, "it's actually amazing." Nothing in the announcement redefines a capability threshold, a benchmark, or a class of system.
The name was also crowdsourced. On September 19 he asked followers to choose among Superior Intelligence, Extreme Intelligence, and Supreme Intelligence; Supreme lost badly, reportedly because it evokes the Supreme Court. Superior won a September 20 runoff, then lost to a late entrant, "Super," 65% to 35% on September 21. The next day, "Super Intelligence" was in a UN speech. The full timeline is in our piece on how the AI rename poll landed on "Super".
What the rename covers — and what it has no power over
The phrase used was "all of United States documents." That is the entire enforceable scope. Everything below is outside it:
- Laws, regulations, and guidance of other countries
- Private product names, contracts, policies, and marketing
- Academic papers, standards bodies, and technical vocabulary
- Press style guides — major outlets reported the rename while still writing "AI"
There is also no published order yet. As of September 23, 2026 we could not find an executive order or Federal Register notice implementing the rename, which means the effective date and the list of covered agencies are unknown. For how this sits alongside the rest of US AI policy and the wider regulatory picture, see our comparison of the SI speech against US, EU, and Japanese AI rules.
What changes vs. what does not
As of September 23, 2026:
Area | Changes now? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
US federal documents and releases | Yes (announced) | Timing and completeness not yet specified |
English-language news and social media | Partly | Spike in "SI" and "super intelligence" mentions |
Other governments' policy language | No | No country has announced it will follow |
Your contracts, policies, and terms of service | No | A defined-terms clause already handles this |
Product names and marketing copy | No | Buyers still search for "AI" |
Academic terms: AI, AGI, ASI | No | ASI still means a hypothetical system |
Search demand and SEO | Temporarily | Short-term surge in "SI meaning" queries |
In practice, the most common request we are seeing is an executive forwarding a headline and asking whether the company's materials need rewriting. The table above is the answer: nothing needs to be rewritten, and the safest move is to wait for an actual order.
"Superintelligence" already meant something in AI research
The word is not new. Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014) defines it as an intellect that greatly exceeds human cognitive performance in virtually all domains of interest. In research usage, ASI (artificial superintelligence) describes a hypothetical system that does not exist yet, sitting one step beyond AGI (human-level breadth across tasks).
That is the real ambiguity the rename creates. Calling today's chatbots "super intelligence" collapses a distinction researchers use deliberately. We unpack the terms in what "super intelligence" (SI) means and how it differs from AI and in a side-by-side of AGI vs. ASI vs. SI.
Three things to watch next
- An executive order. A speech is not an instruction to agencies. If federal documents really change, expect an order or OMB-style guidance that names an effective date. Not published as of September 23, 2026.
- Whether anyone follows. "Hopefully the world's" is a wish, not an agreement. No other government has announced adoption.
- The "AI Force" and an AI czar. In the same week, Trump signaled the creation of an "AI Force" and the appointment of an AI czar (Axios, September 21, 2026). The details are undefined, but this has far more practical weight than a naming change.
If you publish content, the rename does have one measurable effect: a burst of new queries. How to handle it without chasing a two-week spike is covered in our SEO guide to the "SI" keyword, and the broader direction of the market is in generative AI trends for 2026.
One practical note for teams working in both languages: in English, write "SI (Super Intelligence, formerly AI)" on first mention so readers are not guessing. In Japanese business writing, "AI" remains the standard term — we cover that in how the rename affects contracts and internal policies.
At Mihata we build websites and custom AI tools, and a good part of our work is helping teams decide which news actually requires action and which does not. If that sounds useful, we would be glad if you took a look.
Bottom line
Trump renamed AI to "Super Intelligence" for US government documents in a UN speech on September 22, 2026. There is no order behind it yet, no obligation for anyone outside the federal government, and no change to what the technology does. The naming is the headline; the policy stance behind it — actively refusing international AI governance — is the part worth tracking.
FAQ
When and where did Trump rename AI to super intelligence?
On September 22, 2026, during his address to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The White House published the relevant quote in its official readout the same day.
Does the rename apply to private companies?
No. The announcement covers US government documents. Private companies, other governments, academic publishing, and news organizations are not bound by it.
Is there an executive order behind the change?
Not that we could verify. As of September 23, 2026 there is no published executive order or Federal Register notice implementing the rename, so the effective date and covered agencies are unknown.
Is 'super intelligence' the same as superintelligence in AI research?
No. In research usage, superintelligence (or ASI, artificial superintelligence) refers to a hypothetical system that greatly exceeds human cognitive ability across virtually all domains, as defined by Nick Bostrom in 2014. Current AI systems do not meet that bar.
Should we update our contracts or documentation to say SI?
There is no need to. If your contracts define the term, the definition controls regardless of what the US government calls it. Wait for an actual order before changing anything.