Musk, Benioff, Huang and Nadella fall in line with Trump's 'super intelligence' rebrand of AI
The Verge reports that some of Silicon Valley's most powerful figures are adopting President Donald Trump's push to rebrand artificial intelligence as 'super intelligence'. The article's premise is that you could be forgiven for doubting the rebrand would catch on, and that most of the broader population is sticking with 'AI', but that parts of the tech elite are falling in line anyway. The Verge's own headline says Musk, Benioff, Huang and now Nadella have 'capitulated'.
The trigger was Trump's declaration that 'The White House considers anyone that uses the term, ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ as opposed to the highly accepted new and more accurate term, ‘Super Intelligence,’ THE ENEMY!' An executive order requires government agencies to use the term 'super intelligence'.
Elon Musk was quick to jump on board, promising to rename SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI. The Verge says that is not surprising. Hours after Trump's declaration, Marc Benioff announced that Salesforce would rename AIForce to SIForce, which the article calls a quick capitulation, but not entirely out of character.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attended the summit where the executive order was announced. The article says he has also aligned himself with Trump, saying he believes the danger posed by AI is overblown. So it was somewhat predictable, the piece says, that when Nvidia declared it would 'commit' $1 billion to scientific advancement, that included 'super intelligence research.' The article adds that Huang has a lot to lose if he gets on Trump's bad side.
The latest to cave, in The Verge's words, is Microsoft's Satya Nadella. He attended the same AI summit as Huang, along with Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos, Dario Amodei and Musk. In a post calling for building an 'emergency brake' for AI, published the day before the article, Nadella repeatedly referred to the technology as 'super intelligence.'
The piece closes with context: during Trump's second term, Silicon Valley has repeatedly tried to ingratiate itself with the administration, after a much more contentious relationship during his first term.
Key facts
- Trump declared that anyone using the term 'Artificial Intelligence' instead of 'Super Intelligence' is 'THE ENEMY'; an executive order requires government agencies to use 'super intelligence'.
- Musk promised to rename SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI; Benioff announced Salesforce would rename AIForce to SIForce, hours after Trump's declaration.
- Nvidia said it would 'commit' $1 billion to scientific advancement, which included 'super intelligence research'; Huang attended the summit where the order was announced.
- Microsoft's Satya Nadella repeatedly called the technology 'super intelligence' in a post calling for an 'emergency brake' for AI.
- The Verge notes most of the broader population is sticking with 'AI' and that Silicon Valley has repeatedly tried to ingratiate itself with the administration in Trump's second term.
Why it matters
This is a story about language and political alignment more than technology. A government is trying to change what an entire industry calls its product, backed by an executive order for agencies and a public declaration that people who keep saying 'Artificial Intelligence' are 'THE ENEMY'. Company names (SpaceXAI, AIForce) and research labels (Nvidia's 'super intelligence research') are already shifting. The Verge frames it against a longer pattern: a much more contentious relationship with Trump in his first term, and repeated attempts by Silicon Valley to ingratiate itself in the second.
Who it affects
Directly, the executives and companies named: Musk's SpaceXAI, Salesforce's AIForce, Nvidia, and Microsoft's Nadella. Government agencies are bound by the executive order to use the term 'super intelligence'. Beyond that, the article says most of the broader population is sticking with 'AI', so the change is currently concentrated among a few powerful people and the organisations around them.
How to use it
There is no product or tool to try here. The practical takeaway is vocabulary. Anyone writing for or selling to government agencies should know the order requires those agencies to use 'super intelligence'. Anyone tracking company announcements may see more renamed products and research programmes in the same style, as with SpaceXSI and SIForce.
How solid is it
The reported facts are specific and attributed: Trump's quoted declaration, Musk's promise to rename SpaceXAI, Benioff's announcement about AIForce, Nvidia's $1 billion commitment that included 'super intelligence research', and Nadella's post. The interpretation is the author's: 'capitulated', 'cave' and 'ingratiate' are The Verge's characterisations, and no statement from Musk, Benioff, Huang or Nadella explaining their motives is quoted.
Risks and caveats
The article gives no date for Trump's declaration, the executive order or the summit, and does not describe the order's text, penalties or enforcement beyond requiring agencies to use the term. It does not say what Nadella's 'emergency brake' post proposed in detail, nor that it was written in response to Trump. It does not say whether Zuckerberg, Pichai, Bezos or Amodei have adopted the term, and gives no figures on how many companies or people have switched. Musk 'promised' a rename and Benioff 'announced' one, so these are stated intentions in the piece, not completed changes.
“The White House considers anyone that uses the term, ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ as opposed to the highly accepted new and more accurate term, ‘Super Intelligence,’ THE ENEMY!”
— Donald Trump, as quoted by The Verge