Trump calls people using term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ ‘THE ENEMY’: What his new AI order means

A technology term used by researchers, companies and everyday users for decades has become the centre of a political debate in the US. President Donald Trump has intensified his push to rename artificial intelligence, using unusually strong language against those who continue to use the established term. His latest statement follows a policy change announced by his administration in September, taking the debate beyond social media.

However, the move does not automatically change how every business, developer or individual must describe the technology. To understand the implications of Trump's remarks, it is important to look at what he said, what his administration has directed federal agencies to do, and where the policy's limits lie.

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Trump calls people using AI ‘THE ENEMY’

In a Truth Social post on October 8, Trump wrote 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!”

The statement reinforces Trump's push to replace “Artificial Intelligence” with “Super Intelligence”, shortened to “SI”. His administration had already formalised this preference through an executive order signed on September 29.

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The order directs federal executive departments and agencies, to the extent permitted by law, to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” instead of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory material. It also leaves previously issued regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants and historical documents unchanged.

Does Trump's order apply to everyone?

Despite the strong wording of Trump's post, the order does not impose a blanket ban on people or private companies using the term “artificial intelligence”. Its instructions apply to the federal executive branch and remain subject to applicable law.

The distinction matters because “artificial intelligence” remains the established term across much of the technology industry. The order uses the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence for its implementation; this does not establish that today's AI systems are technically superintelligent.

For users and technology companies, the question is whether the administration's preferred terminology will gain wider acceptance beyond federal communications. For now, Trump's post expresses his preference, while the executive order sets out the scope of the government's terminology change.