Trump orders US government to call AI ‘Super Intelligence’

The US executive branch is officially ceasing to acknowledge the existence of "artificial intelligence." Under a new executive order signed by Donald Trump, government websites, documents, and press releases will refer only to "Super Intelligence."

The president explained the choice in his usual style. "The word super is the best word of all, and it's the simplest," Trump said at an event launching the America.gov portal. He added that the term also pleased Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited the White House last week. The word "artificial" clearly rankles: "We don't want to hear artificial. Because it's not artificial. It's very powerful, it's very brilliant." "Artificial," he said, is "like the news. Fake news." Trump first floated the rebrand in a speech to the UN General Assembly, hoping to calm fears that AI is advancing too fast and posing safety risks.

Not just wordplay

Agencies won't have to rewrite past regulations or documents, but the change could prove real — and very strange. "Superintelligence" is normally an industry term for especially powerful versions of AI, yet the administration wants to use it as a replacement for a broader statutory definition. Officials will be expected not even to acknowledge the terms "artificial intelligence" or "AI" in relevant settings.

The order was signed after a luncheon Trump hosted at the White House with tech CEOs and government officials. He called the meeting — devoted to what is now officially "Super Intelligence" — "very productive" and "extremely friendly," flanked by Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk.

"There's a belief that there should be tremendous self-regulation," Trump said, noting that the Justice Department and FBI already provide oversight. At the local level, where companies face the most resistance to building the massive data centers their services require, firms will "work to make the community happy" by offering resources and economic support, he said. Ultimately, the president is convinced, "data centers are going to be very popular."

Source: The Verge