Trump Renames Artificial Intelligence “Super Intelligence” at UN

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the United States government will officially replace the term “Artificial Intelligence” with “Super Intelligence” in its official documents, arguing that the new name more accurately reflects the technology’s extraordinary capabilities. He made the declaration on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, during his opening address at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Addressing world leaders at the General Debate, Trump said the United States would not only adopt the new terminology domestically but also hoped other countries would follow suit. He described the move as part of a broader vision to position America at the forefront of advanced AI development while resisting international efforts to create a global regulatory framework for the technology.

“The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence being spoken of so much now, hereinafter officially called Super Intelligence, changing the name,” Trump told delegates, making the announcement one of the defining moments of his UN speech.

Explaining the reasoning behind the change, Trump argued that the word “artificial” wrongly suggests the technology is fake or less authentic than it truly is. “The use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake. It makes it sound fake, and it is not fake. It’s actually amazing, but we have to be careful,” he said.

He went further by stating that the terminology would immediately become standard across U.S. government records. “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,” Trump said, later suggesting the abbreviation “SI” as the preferred shorthand.

The announcement follows a public poll Trump launched on Truth Social days before the UN summit, asking users to choose an alternative name for artificial intelligence. His original options included Superior Intelligence, Extreme Intelligence and Supreme Intelligence. After later removing “Supreme Intelligence” from the poll, the final public choices were Superior Intelligence and Extreme Intelligence. Despite that process, Trump ultimately unveiled Super Intelligence during his UN address as the official term his administration intends to use.

Trump’s remarks were also accompanied by a firm rejection of international AI governance. He criticized proposals for a global framework to regulate advanced AI, describing them as a “globalist scheme” that could undermine innovation and American technological leadership. His administration has consistently argued that the United States should remain the world’s leading developer of frontier AI while shaping its own regulatory approach.

In the technology community, however, “superintelligence” already carries a distinct meaning. Researchers generally use the term to describe a hypothetical future AI system capable of surpassing human intelligence across virtually every cognitive domain, rather than as a replacement for the broader field of artificial intelligence. As a result, Trump’s proposed terminology represents a political and governmental naming choice rather than a change in established scientific or technical vocabulary.

Whether “Super Intelligence” gains international acceptance remains uncertain, but the announcement highlights the growing influence of AI in global diplomacy. Beyond debates over names, the larger contest revolves around who will lead the development, governance and ethical direction of one of the most transformative technologies of the 21st century.