Trump Says He Will "Officially" Ban the Term "AI" in Favor of "Super Intelligence"; His September Order Already Covers Federal Agencies

President Trump's promise to ban the term "AI" goes beyond what his own executive order does. The September order already tells federal agencies to say "Super Intelligence," but only in their own non-statutory documents and only as far as the law allows, and nothing in it reaches newspapers, companies or the public.

What Trump wrote#

In a post on Truth Social on October 27, quoted by Reuters and Variety, Trump wrote: "When will The Wall Street Journal start calling Artificial Intelligence (AI), a very bad and inaccurate name, SI (Super Intelligence), the name which virtually everyone else is using, or soon will be." He added: "In short order, we will be officially BANNING the term, 'AI/Artificial Intelligence,' in all relevant documents, and everything else, due to its inaccuracy."

The post did not say what a new ban would cover beyond the existing order or when it would come.

What the September order already does#

Executive Order 14434, "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence," signed on September 29, says the executive branch shall use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in place of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI" "to the maximum extent permitted by law." It applies to agencies' official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents.

The order says nothing in it requires changes to previously issued regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants or other historical documents. It defines "Super Intelligence" by reference to the existing federal definition of artificial intelligence in section 9401(3) of title 15 of the U.S. Code. It also gives the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology 60 days to propose legislative language for a federal definition of "Super Intelligence."

The White House has used the term elsewhere: the White House Accord on Super Intelligence, released the same day as the order, set out voluntary oversight commitments for frontier developers, and the White House "Super Intelligence Force," reported in early October to be led by Jay Clayton, is its AI task force.

How companies are using the term#

Variety reports that most AI companies, including Anthropic and OpenAI, have continued to describe themselves with "artificial intelligence" and "AI." It reports that Elon Musk wrote on X earlier this month, "No more AI / SI / It's better," and, asked whether he would rename his AI company, xAI, replied: "Yes, we will make that change."

Limits#

• The executive order binds executive branch agencies only. It covers non-statutory documents only, and for a federal definition of "Super Intelligence" it asks for proposed legislative language rather than setting one in law.
• The White House's presidential actions page listed no new order on the term when we checked on October 28.
• Trump's post is quoted from Reuters and Variety. Reuters' version ends after the sentence about the ban; Variety's also includes the closing line "Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Sources#

• Reuters via CNA: Trump says he will ban term artificial intelligence (October 27, 2026)
• Variety: Trump Says 'Artificial Intelligence' Is 'a Very Bad and Inaccurate Name,' and That He Wants to Officially Ban the Term 'AI' (October 27, 2026)
• The White House: Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence (September 29, 2026)
• The White House: Presidential Actions (accessed October 28, 2026)
• Times of AI: White House Frontier AI Accord Pledges Four Layers of Voluntary Oversight (September 29, 2026)
• Times of AI: WSJ: Jay Clayton to Lead White House 'Super Intelligence Force' With 120-Day Report (October 3, 2026)