Trump Proposes Renaming AI and Announces an "AI Force"

Donald Trump has responded to the debate over the safety of artificial intelligence in his signature style — declaring the concerns part of a long line of "hoaxes" that, he claims, were dreamed up by "radical left Democrats" bent on "destroying the country."

On Saturday, on his own social network Truth Social, he opened with a bit of linguistics: supposedly "many people" find the phrase Artificial Intelligence imprecise and inelegant. On those grounds the president launched a poll, inviting his followers to choose a new name for the technology — Superior Intelligence, Extreme Intelligence or Supreme Intelligence. As of publication, the vote was still under way.

A couple of hours later came the follow-up: Trump lumped the attempts to "destroy AI" together with other "cons" like "RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA," "global warming" and his two impeachments. In his telling, the assault began with criticism of data centers but fell apart "when people realized how rich and prestigious they are for local communities" — and so his detractors "went straight after AI."

The president offered no evidence that public distrust of AI and data centers is orchestrated rather than genuine. Meanwhile, the skepticism is shared by Republicans and Democrats alike: New York State recently became the first to suspend permits for large data center projects.

An "AI Force" and a high-IQ czar

Having promised to "protect and nurture" the industry, Trump also announced the creation of an "AI Force" — modeled on the "Space Force" established during his first term. In addition, he intends to appoint an "AI czar" soon, noting that applications are accepted only from "people with a high IQ." Exactly what the new body and official will do, the president did not specify. The previous AI and cryptocurrency "czar," venture investor David Sacks, stepped down from the post earlier this year.

The latest wave of controversy was sparked by a statement from a researcher who had left Anthropic: according to him, leading companies "genuinely believe" that AI could wipe out humanity before the end of the decade and are "gambling with our lives." In response, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei laid out a plan for "containing the frontier," which was backed by Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Critics, however, argue that talk of an existential threat only distracts from the more immediate harms of the technology.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, meanwhile, phoned Trump right from the stage during the All-In summit, agreed that the backlash against AI is a "hoax," and vowed that a slowdown in the industry's development is something "we won't allow."

Source: TechCrunch