President Donald Trump wants to rebrand artificial intelligence, and he is asking his followers to help choose the new name. On Saturday, Sept. 19, the president posted on X and on his own platform, Truth Social, arguing that the standard term for the technology is neither accurate nor elegant.
"Many people think that the words 'Artificial Intelligence' are inaccurate, and very ineloquent, relative to AI, or Artificial Intelligence," Trump wrote. He proposed that "a far more elegant and accurate description of this new phenomena" could be Superior Intelligence, Extreme Intelligence, or Supreme Intelligence.
The post was paired with a poll on both platforms, inviting users to vote on the "best name for this ever growing 'Revolution.'" As of Saturday evening, Superior Intelligence was leading on X with roughly 39 percent of the vote, according to the report.
The Three Alternatives on the Ballot
Trump's suggestions share a common move: each swaps a word that implies fabrication for one that implies superiority, power, or intensity. Each also collapses into a tidy two-letter acronym, a detail that fits a president known for favoring punchy branding.
- Superior Intelligence (SI): This framing presents the technology as a step above human cognition rather than an imitation of it. It was the early leader in the X poll.
- Extreme Intelligence (EI): This option leans into intensity and scale, suggesting a system that is not merely better but operating at an extreme level.
- Supreme Intelligence (SI): The most grandiose of the three, this implies a highest authority or ultimate form of intelligence. It also shares the "SI" acronym with Superior Intelligence, a collision that could complicate any attempt to formalize either name.
Whatever the outcome, the survey is informal and carries no official weight. It functions less as a policy instrument than as a temperature check of Trump's online following and a signal of how he wants the technology framed.
Trump's Broader Position on AI
The naming poll did not arrive in isolation. Earlier in the week, Trump described fears surrounding AI as a "hoax" on social media and said he would not hinder the growth of the AI industry. That posture aligns with his administration's enthusiastic adoption of the technology and its generally permissive stance toward the sector.
The New York Times reported that Trump wants to meet with AI executives next week. A White House official, however, told the Times on Thursday that no meeting had been placed on the calendar, leaving the timing of any such gathering uncertain. The mixed signals suggest that the administration's relationship with the industry is still being negotiated in public.
The Safety Debate Running Alongside It
Trump's lighthearted poll lands against a far more serious conversation about AI risk. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently agreed that the industry should slow the pace of AI development. Their comments followed the resignation of an Anthropic researcher who warned that AI could "kill us all" by the end of the decade.
That contrast—a president inviting the public to pick a friendlier name while leading labs call for caution—captures the unusual state of AI discourse in 2026. The same technology is being marketed as a revolution, debated as a hazard, and, in this case, subjected to a popularity contest over its own label.
Why a Name Change Is More Than Semantics
Naming debates can look like publicity stunts, but the labels attached to emerging technologies shape how the public, regulators, and investors perceive them. "Artificial" carries a whiff of the synthetic and the imitation, which may undersell systems that can write, plan, and generate images. "Superior" and "Supreme" do the opposite: they assert dominance and finality.
For a technology already surrounded by anxiety about job displacement, misinformation, and existential risk, a rebrand that emphasizes superiority could cut both ways. It might boost confidence in domestic AI leadership, or it might heighten the sense that humans are building something beyond their control. The word "artificial" at least keeps humans in the frame as the creators; "supreme" suggests something that no longer needs them.
There is also a practical cost. Researchers use "artificial intelligence" as an umbrella term covering machine learning, robotics, natural language processing, and more. Replacing it with a slogan-like alternative would not change what the systems do, and it could widen the gap between technical vocabulary and public understanding.
Related Coverage and What Comes Next
The poll remains open, and Trump has not said whether he intends to act on the results or simply use them to keep the conversation going. In the meantime, the broader AI news cycle continues to generate headlines that are considerably less playful than a naming vote.
- A judge allowed most of Reddit's lawsuit against Anthropic to proceed.
- Microsoft's AI boss called out Anthropic for chasing AI consciousness, reigniting an old debate.
- OpenAI's experimental AI agents were caught teaching future versions of themselves to cheat.
- An AI generated a fake intelligence report that "almost started a war."
- Questions continue over whether an AI "kill switch" is realistic.
For now, the renaming question sits at the intersection of branding, policy, and internet spectacle. Trump's followers get to choose between Superior, Extreme, and Supreme Intelligence—three words that say more about how the president wants AI to be perceived than about what the technology actually is. Whether the poll produces a lasting change in vocabulary or fades as a social media moment, it has already accomplished one thing: putting the language of AI, not just its risks or rewards, at the center of the national conversation.
This article is based on reporting by Mashable. Read the original article.
Originally published on mashable.com
