United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to replace the term “artificial intelligence” with “super intelligence” in official US government documents.
Trump made the announcement on Tuesday while addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York. The UN confirmed that the general debate of the 81st session began on September 22 and runs through September 28.
The US President said the word “artificial” made intelligence sound fake, insisting that the technology was real and transformative.
“The use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake. It makes it sound fake, and it is not fake,” Trump said.
He added, “From this point forward, all of United States documents and hopefully the world’s will be changed to use the much more accurate term, super, as opposed to artificial.”
Trump said the new terminology would be shortened to “SI”, describing it as a new era of “super intelligence”.
The President also rejected calls for restrictions that could slow the development of advanced AI technology.
“We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in,” he said.
Trump argued that countries leading in the development of super intelligence would gain significant global advantages.
“Whoever wins SI, whoever wins super intelligence, wins,” he said.
He claimed that the United States was currently ahead of China in the technology race and would maintain its position.
Trump also dismissed warnings that AI could pose catastrophic risks, comparing such concerns with previous warnings over climate change.
However, he said the US would monitor the technology through the Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies where necessary.
“We will only encourage super intelligence. We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in,” Trump said.
Reuters reported that Trump reiterated his opposition to new AI regulations during the address, while saying US law enforcement would intervene if necessary.
The comments came as AI safety and governance featured prominently in discussions around the UN General Assembly.
The United Nations’ Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, in a September 2026 briefing, has warned of risks associated with increasingly capable AI agents and the potential loss of human control.
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