Americans’ concerns about artificial intelligence have quickly escalated from “it might take our jobs” to “it might kill us all.” In September, top AI executives called for slowing down development shortly after an Anthropic whistleblower warned that the technology could soon spiral beyond human control. Polls show a majority of Americans think AI could someday destroy humanity. It appears they were unmoved when President Trump, who favors “self-regulation” by the AI industry, dismissed this fear as a “HOAX.” A recent Quinnipiac survey found 58 percent of respondents disapprove of the president’s handling of artificial intelligence, versus just 25 percent who approve.

But now Trump has a plan to shut down all this AI doomerism: Simply change the name “artificial intelligence” to “super intelligence.”

When Trump first floated the rebrand, it seemed like a goofy Truth Social musing he’d forget about in a few days, like calling New Mexico “New America.” Then he announced at the United Nations that “artificial intelligence” is “hereinafter officially called ‘super intelligence.’” And on September 29, he followed that up with an executive order directing the U.S. government to switch from “AI” to “SI.”

So can Trump actually change the name of AI? What does “super intelligence” really mean? Is this technology, whatever it’s called, actually going to destroy the human race? Unfortunately, we can’t definitively answer that last one. But here’s everything you need to know about Trump’s dopey renaming ploy.

. When did Trump first propose an AI rebrand?

He posted a poll to Truth Social on September 19, imploring his followers to weigh in on a more “elegant and accurate” name for artificial intelligence:

While Trump has 13.1 million Truth Social followers, he got only 66,000 responses. But it turns out the poll didn’t matter anyway; the name Trump eventually went with wasn’t even an option.

. When did Trump start using “super intelligence”?

He announced the new name during his September 22 address to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he also rejected the “globalist scheme” to control the technology and said AI safety concerns are a “hoax” just like climate change and “Russia, Russia, Russia.”

“The use of the word ‘artificial’ makes intelligence fake. It makes it sound fake,” Trump said. “And it is not fake. It’s actually amazing.”

The president said that all U.S. documents would begin using the terms “super intelligence” or “SI,” and he hoped the rest of the world would follow suit.

“In other words, welcome to the new world of super intelligence, dash, SI,” Trump declared, saying the em-dash in the teleprompter out loud. “Let’s see if I have any power. Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t. We’re going to find out pretty soon.”

. Does Trump actually have the power to rename AI?

He can’t force people, foreign governments, or private companies to stop saying “artificial intelligence.” But he does have control over the terminology used by members of his administration and the federal government.

In the days following Trump’s U.N. address, he and other White House officials started used “SI” publicly, and the State Department ordered diplomats to make the switch in all “remarks, positions, and press elements moving forward.”

During a White House meeting about AI with top tech leaders on September 29, Trump issued an........

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