A month after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to use the term “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence,” his two most important tech allies—Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg—also adopted this terminology during their financial report conference calls. However, other tech companies CEO were not so enthusiastic about it.
Trump made this statement during a AI luncheon hosted by the White House for industry leaders on September 29th. At that time, he was promoting AI growth in the United States while limiting regulation. This week, Trump also announced on Truth Social that he would ban the use of the term AI or artificial intelligence in "all relevant documents" and "everything else."
Last week, SpaceX and Tesla followed Trump's wishes during their financial report conference calls. Earlier in October, Musk had already renamed the AI division of his rocket company to SpaceXSI. During the Tesla conference call, Musk mentioned the humanoid robot business, saying, "Some of them look very impressive, but they actually don't use any advanced AI or SI."
On October 21st, Zuckerberg also cooperated during the Meta earnings call, emphasizing the company's goal of 'providing personal superintelligence to everyone.' However, Meta has actually been using this term for some time now, as the company established a department named Meta Superintelligence Labs last year.
Although Musk and Zuckerberg may be among the most staunch supporters of the Trump administration among tech companies, they are by no means exceptions. Leaders of almost all major tech corporations participated in Trump's inauguration celebrations or White House banquet plans, and some of them even deliberately canceled initiatives that Trump opposed, such as those related to diversity, fairness, and inclusion.
But at least for now, in terms of eliminating the term “AI”, they are still standing pat.
Amazon's Andy Jassy mentioned AI multiple times during a conference call on Thursday, using the abbreviation over a dozen times in his opening remarks. A day earlier, Microsoft's Satya Nadella stated that one of the company's three key priorities is to "design AI to empower people." Sundar Pichai, on the other hand, mentioned within seconds of beginning his comments on the quarterly financial report that this search giant's "AI investments are driving usage and overall user growth."
As Trump attempts to push through this name change, the midterms next week are just around the corner, and the Republican Party could lose control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. According to the latest nationwide economic survey released by CNBC last week, Trump's approval rating for his administration has been on the decline, and his economic support rating has just hit a historic low.
"The results of the real world"
However, this does not mean that the tech executives who continue to use “AI” during this week’s financial report conference calls are openly challenging the president. The terminology favored by Trump is beginning to permeate other communication documents and materials. In Microsoft’s annual report submitted last week, the term “super intelligence” appeared eight times, with the first occurrence at the beginning of the letter to shareholders.
Nadella wrote, "For Microsoft, as we enter the era of superintelligence, the core question is not only how great the opportunities will be, but how we can achieve the real-world results that every country, community, and company demands and deserves."
IBM CEO Alvinde Krishna did not attend Trump's lunch meeting in September, but he used both SI and AI during the company's financial report conference call last week. Krishna said, "Technological innovations in hybrid infrastructure and super intelligence are leading to better business performance." He also added that IBM is moving towards becoming a "software-led hybrid cloud and AI platform company."
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich stated on Thursday that the current supply shortage in the chip industry is "driven by unprecedented demand for superintelligence."
Some individuals in the tech industry have clearly expressed their support for Trump's term before the financial reports are to be released next month.
Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikish Arora mentioned SI several times on CNBC, and on September 30th, he posted on X saying, "The White House meeting regarding SI was an epic moment."
In addition, there is Jensen Huang from NVIDIA. As the leader of the world's most valuable company and the person in charge of a major chip manufacturer that has fueled the AI craze, Jensen Huang, like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, has always been one of Trump's most outspoken supporters in the tech community. He is also an important ally for the president in the AI security debates.
Like A罗拉, Jensen Huang also posted on X after that AI meeting last month, praising the “White House Super Intelligence Protocol.”
Jensen Huang writes, "Superintelligence presents extraordinary opportunities for advancing discovery, productivity, security, health, and prosperity. The future of superintelligence will be determined not only by what it can do, but also by how much trust it earns."
