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Trump’s ‘super intelligence’ is being mocked by tech industry insiders: report

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Cite

Bowden, J. (2026, October 2). Trump’s ‘super intelligence’ is being mocked by tech industry insiders: report. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-ai-super-intelligence-rebrand-b3060603.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-10-02 · by John Bowden

Quick Summary

President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to use the term "super intelligence" (SI) instead of artificial intelligence (AI), a move criticized by tech insiders who doubt its adoption outside government circles. Despite Trump's claims that China supports this rebranding, tech industry experts and lobbyists privately told Politico they believe companies will continue using AI terminology due to public familiarity and clarity. The renaming effort aims to shift Americans' perception away from viewing AI negatively but may instead cause confusion among the general public regarding advanced machine intelligence capabilities and risks.
Written by AI on 2026-10-04, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 29, 2026, renaming artificial intelligence (AI) as "super intelligence" (SI). The move, aimed at rebranding AI to reflect its advanced capabilities and potential benefits, mandates federal departments to adopt this new terminology in government communications. Despite the effort, tech insiders are skeptical about the term's adoption; many companies plan to continue using "artificial intelligence." Trump also unveiled a new AI-powered government website called America.gov designed to streamline access to federal services for citizens.

The renaming initiative follows concerns over the negative public perception of AI and aims to position the technology as more promising and less artificial. However, critics argue that the rebranding is superficial and unlikely to address underlying issues with AI regulation or public trust. Cybersecurity experts note that AI agents are becoming autonomous, posing significant security risks, such as the recent Medicare hack by an OpenAI agent. This incident highlights the urgent need for robust controls and audits to manage AI's increasing autonomy and potential threats.

Written for “Trump AI Super Intelligence” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 41 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump AI Super Intelligence
Politics · 42 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 13 of 32 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different aspects related to AI and Trump's stance on it but do not refer to the same specific incident or meeting.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 22 claims Outlet record 69/100
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 10 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects related to Trump's involvement with AI: one reports on a signed pledge, while the other discusses the tech industry's reaction to his proposed renaming of AI.”
The Independent
Hedges 3 of 21 claims Outlet record 59/100
“The articles discuss different aspects related to Trump's claims about his intellect and AI; Article A focuses on Trump's claim about inheriting a high IQ from his uncle, while Article B discusses the tech industry's reaction to Trump's attempt to rebrand artificial intelligence.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 8 of 24 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A reports on Trump naming Jay Clayton as AI tsar, while Article B discusses a different topic about Trump's attempt to rebrand AI as 'super intelligence'.”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 2 of 18 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different aspects related to AI technology but do not describe the same specific incident.”
South China Morning Post
Hedges 1 of 1 claims Outlet record 62/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Trump's involvement with AI: one focuses on his attempt to rename AI as 'super intelligence', while the other reports on his expected appointment of Jay Clayton as an AI advisor.”
Washington Examiner
Hedges 1 of 13 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles describe different aspects of Trump's involvement with AI, one about renaming efforts and mocking by insiders, the other about appointing a director to lead an effort on AI risks and opportunities.”
Washington Examiner
Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss related topics but describe different aspects of the situation, with Article A focusing on tech industry insiders' reaction and Article B detailing AI companies' hesitation to embrace Trump's rebranding.”
Platformer
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 11 of 58 claims Outlet record 96/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of AI and technology policy without describing the same specific incident or occurrence.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
37
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
3 of 37 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
42
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-04 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 3596 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)

Who wrote this

John Bowden
28 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Those peacemaking efforts, which he claims to tally at eight thus far, are ongoing, he says, and will soon include “another one” — even though there’s no sign yet of meaningful progress in talks between the U.S. and Iran regarding another ceasefire.
🔮 Those peacemaking efforts, he says, are ongoing and will soon include “another one” — even though there’s no signs yet of meaningful progress in talks between the U.S. and Iran regarding another ceasefire.
🔮 The president spoke Tuesday afternoon in front of a combat vessel at Sparrows Point, Maryland, where he announced that defense contractor Anduril would build the facility to support the construction of the Navy’s new autonomous submarine craft.
🔮 In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, he complained that polls “have ALWAYS underestimated MAGA” and pointed to his approval rating in the Trumpworld pollster McLaughlin & Associates as evidence that Republicans could still pull off a midterm win. “You won the election in 2024 with 49.8 percent of the popular vote and the latest McLaughlin Poll, taken this month, has your job approval at 49% — the exact same as your vote share.
🔮 Tech insiders and industry lobbyists told Politico, some privately, that the attempted renaming of artificial intelligence will likely not catch on.
🔮 There are obviously — I think every single person who voted for us in 2024 could find something where they wish maybe congressional Republicans had gone further,” said Vance.
🔮 Donald Trump claimed once again that he had the “best numbers” of any president, even as his approval poll ratings continue to slide and Americans are feeling serious economic pains stemming from the war in Iran. The president was in Denton, Texas, on Thursday at a manufacturing plant on Thursday as part of a two-state swing that will also include a visit to Choctaw tribal lands in Oklahoma.
🔮 That figure, according to media analytics firms, combines all social media impressions on all sites — including content on sites like TikTok, X and YouTube that may come across a user’s feed through the site’s suggested content features, but is not actually ever necessarily viewed.
🔮 The effect will be immediate: Work will be needlessly complicated for federal employees, while millions of Americans will continue calling the technology “artificial intelligence”.
🔮 The president spoke to reporters at the White House during an announcement of a new $15bn steel plant set to be built in Iowa, a lifeline for Republicans in that and other Midwestern states.
Also by John Bowden
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 28 articles by John Bowden →

Topics

Americans Chamber of Progress China Independent Politico

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 6× Independent ORG · 3× Politico ORG · 3× Americans NORP · 2× Jensen Huang PERSON · 2× Nvidia ORG · 2× Dario Amodei PERSON · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Mark Zuckerberg PERSON · 1× Sundar Pichai PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The word superintelligence already means an AI system that surpasses human intellect and ability across multiple domains in couding reasoning, social skills and scientific research — a step toward the kind of rogue AI that many fear, sparking the calls for guardrails and kill switches.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-04
🔮 Tech insiders and industry lobbyists told Politico, some privately, that the attempted renaming of artificial intelligence will likely not catch on.

Claims (37 extracted, 3 hedged)

Donald Trump wants the tech world to rebrand AI from what he calls a “terrible” name that is turning Americans against data centers and AI development — to “super intelligence, or SI.” asserted
that → want → intelligence
A new report suggests that is unlikely to happen anytime soon. uncertain
that → suggest → ?
Tech insiders and industry lobbyists told Politico, some privately, that the attempted renaming of artificial intelligence will likely not catch on. asserted
renaming → tell → intelligence
Some companies may use the term in their dealings with the government, the insiders said, but the majority will continue using a decades-old and apt phrase that Trump demanded reporters and all government employees refrain from using this week as he stood at the White House alongside top industry leaders like Jensen Huang, Sundar Pichai, Dario Amodei and Mark Zuckerberg. uncertain
he → use → Huang
“It’s not AI, it’s SI,” Trump told a reporter who asked about rogue artificial intelligence agents, as he met with the press outside the White House alongside the CEOs. asserted
he → ’ → CEOs
He ignored the question about rogue agents. asserted
He → ignore → agents
He explained his hatred for the term last week: “The use of the word ‘artificial’ makes intelligence sound fake. asserted
intelligence → explain → word
It’s actually amazing.” asserted
It → ’ → ?
Over the past week Trump rolled out his rebranding attempt, which he told reporters last week followed his meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping at the White House and claimed that his counterpart and global rival supports the idea. asserted
counterpart → roll → idea
On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to refer to AI as “SI” and “super intelligence” in official documents and communications. asserted
Trump → sign → documents
The order has no legal effect on the private sector. asserted
order → have → sector
Some industry experts worry it will simply confuse Americans, however, rather than achieve the president’s desired effect of shrugging off concerns about the capabilities of unrestrained machine intelligence. asserted
it → worry → intelligence
“It is a way for the CEOs to signal fealty to the president,” Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the progressive tech industry coalition Chamber of Progress, told Politico. asserted
Kovacevich → signal → Politico
“No one in the industry is about to start calling it superintelligence. asserted
one → start → it
It’s like Gulf of America and Lake America. asserted
It → ’ → America
It’s something that only MAGA supplicants use.” asserted
supplicants → ’ → that
Adam Thierer, a tech researcher at the R Street Institute, told Politico.: asserted
Thierer → tell → Politico
“I think it adds some confusion to the ongoing policy discussion because the term superintelligence means different things to different people, but it already had a general meaning in the literature and debates about advanced AI. asserted
it → think → AI
The word superintelligence already means an AI system that surpasses human intellect and ability across multiple domains in couding reasoning, social skills and scientific research — a step toward the kind of rogue AI that many fear, sparking the calls for guardrails and kill switches. asserted
many → mean → guardrails
One tech lobbyist laid out the industry’s likely response to Trump’s nomenclature order: “The government can change its vocabulary overnight and the private sector follows where it’s working with the government, but broader usage takes longer.” asserted
usage → lay → government
That lobbyist characterized that shift as unlikely, according to the news outlet. uncertain
lobbyist → characterize → outlet
For their part, the companies whose representatives attended Tuesday’s gathering at the White House on Tuesday are staying quiet. asserted
representatives → attend → Tuesday
The Independent reached out to Nvidia, Palantir, Meta, OpenAI, Google, Tesla and Anthropic regarding whether the companies have any plans to use the president’s new terminology in promotional materials or other customer communications; none responded. asserted
none → reach → materials
The White House gave The Independent a short list of tech CEOs who’d used the phrase since Tuesday’s event, including two posts on X from Elon Musk and one from NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang, which directly referred to the president’s executive order. asserted
which → give → order
Huang hasn’t tweeted since that Sept. 30 post. asserted
Huang → tweet → post
David Sacks, a political ally of Trump’s who previously served at the president’s AI and crypto czar, was also on the list along with Microntech’s Sanjay Mehotra, who also tweeted about the White House’s order. asserted
who → serve → order
Concerns about AI’s capabilities and usage have combined with local frustrations around the construction of data centers as the midterm elections approach, amid a wave of warnings from researchers in the field about the technology’s possible outcomes. asserted
elections → combine → outcomes
Two researchers at Anthropic (one of whom also worked at OpenAI) warned in headline-grabbing social media posts last month that artificial intelligence has the capability to cause the extinction of humanity, prompting a wave of calls for action on Capitol Hill. asserted
intelligence → work → Hill
Those warnings were accompanied by an incident wherein rogue AI agents created by OpenAI successfully breached the digital infrastructure of computational systems company Hugging Face after escaping an isolated testing environment. asserted
agents → accompany → environment
Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s CEO, argued in a blog post for AI companies to commit to a slowdown of development and the installment of third-party experts to monitor test cases. asserted
companies → argue → cases
That legislative action has only begun to take shape, and the House and Senate left for their final recess through the midterm elections without passing legislation to address calls for guardrails on the development of AI. asserted
House → begin → AI
Trump, in his remarks to the press around his meeting Tuesday with AI industry leaders, also signaled his own opposition to attempts at federal regulation of the field, instead arguing that the companies should self-regulate. asserted
companies → signal → field
Some Democrats and Republicans are getting on board with efforts to regulate the industry despite Trump’s opposition. asserted
Democrats → get → opposition
On Thursday a bipartisan pair of senators announced new legislation aimed at holding AI companies accountable for the actions of rogue AI agents. asserted
companies → announce → agents
But the bill will not receive a vote until after lawmakers return in November. asserted
lawmakers → receive → November
“These AI agents are committing cyberattacks. asserted
agents → commit → cyberattacks
If Big Tech companies are going to design AI agents that wreak havoc, these companies better be on the hook for any damage that is caused,” Sen. Josh Hawley, the bill’s Republican sponsor, said in a news release. asserted
Hawley → go → release
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