Trump Renamed Artificial Intelligence to Superintelligence
The U.S. administration intends to mandate the new terminology in official documents as leaders discuss AI policy.
Updated on Sept. 22, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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At the United Nations General Assembly, Donald Trump announced that the United States will officially transition to using the term superintelligence instead of artificial intelligence. Trump cited the belief that the current terminology underestimates the technology's capability.
Why it matters
The change reflects shifting political discourse regarding AI, which remains a focal point of international debate. King Abdullah II warned that declining human attention spans, which dropped from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to 47 seconds today, impact the sustainment of diplomatic efforts on such issues.
A recent poll from the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that 65 percent of U.S. residents oppose the construction of local AI data centers, compared to 11 percent in favor. It remains unknown how federal documentation updates will accommodate this nomenclature shift.
The players
Donald Trump
The President of the United States who oversees federal technology policy and recently enacted a military strike on Iran.
King Abdullah II
The monarch of Jordan who highlighted the intersection of cognitive attention spans and diplomatic prioritization at the UN.
The details
The U.S. administration plans to standardize the use of the term superintelligence across all official government documents. During the assembly, leaders also considered the need for a global legal framework for AI, as proposed by Turkey's president, though Donald Trump explicitly dismissed calls for increased federal regulation of the technology.
Timeline
Average screen attention was 2.5 minutes in 2004.
Donald Trump ordered a strike on Iran at the end of February 2026.
King Abdullah II and Donald Trump addressed the UN General Assembly on September 22, 2026.
U.S. midterm elections are scheduled for November 2026.
The Tech Race
This development follows a pattern set by the UN General Assembly's international policy forums for debating emerging technologies. It marks a departure from calls for international legal frameworks by emphasizing domestic terminology and deregulation.
The change primarily affects how federal agencies label and communicate technology initiatives in official reports. Public sentiment regarding physical infrastructure like data centers remains divided, with a significant majority of residents opposing local construction.
The takeaway
The rebranding effort signals a shift in the U.S. approach to managing the public narrative surrounding AI. Stakeholders should track upcoming federal document releases to see how the term superintelligence is applied in official regulatory and policy contexts.
Further reading
For broader context on current trends, visit the Artificial Intelligence section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The National.
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