Trump requires government documents to drop "AI" in favor of "SI," and singles out The Wall Street Journal for criticism

Trump has once again extended his political will into the technology sector. He recently announced that the term "artificial intelligence" (AI) will be officially banned from all relevant government documents, and he singled out The Wall Street Journal for criticism, demanding that it switch to the expression "superintelligence" (SI).

On Tuesday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, directly naming The Wall Street Journal and asking when the outlet would abandon the term "artificial intelligence (AI)," which he considers "very bad and inaccurate," in favor of "SI (superintelligence)." He declared in the post:

"SI" has already prompted follow-up responses among some figures in the tech world, but major AI companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI have not changed their own use of the term "AI."

The executive order came first, and Truth Social is applying pressure again

This is not the first time Trump has taken issue with this term. According to the executive order he signed on September 29, U.S. federal government executive departments must replace "artificial intelligence" and "AI" with "superintelligence" and "SI," and "shall not recognize the use of 'artificial intelligence' and 'AI' on any applicable occasion."

The executive order states: "The expression 'superintelligence' more appropriately reflects the promise, potential, and rapidly advancing capabilities of these technologies." Previously, at the end of September, Trump held a summit with AI industry leaders in Washington.

Musk expresses support, mainstream tech companies wait and see

In the tech world, Trump ally and billionaire Musk has clearly expressed support for the renaming proposal. Earlier this month, he wrote on X: "Stop using AI, SI is better." When a user asked whether he would rename his AI business "SpaceXSI," Musk responded, "Yes, we will make that change." The division has now been renamed "SpaceX Super Intelligence" and "SpaceXSI," but its official website domain remains x.ai.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has also previously used "superintelligence," Trump's preferred expression, but Microsoft has so far not announced corresponding renamings of any of its products. Major AI companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI continue to use "artificial intelligence" and "AI" to describe their businesses.

The politics of naming: reshaping geography, extending into technology

The dispute over terminology is not an isolated phenomenon, but the latest extension of a series of renaming moves by the Trump administration. Previously, Trump has issued renaming directives for multiple geographic names, including requiring the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the "Gulf of America" and proposing that Lake Ontario be renamed "Lake America." More recently, he has said he intends to change the name of the Atlantic Ocean, but according to reports, Google's CEO refused to make corresponding adjustments in Google Maps.

At the level of building names, Trump allies once renamed the Kennedy Center the "Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts," but the renaming was subsequently struck down by a federal court on the grounds that it was unlawful.

The term "artificial intelligence" is more than 70 years old and has long been widely used by the computer science community and the global technology industry. Risk disclosure and disclaimer

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