Trump administration adopts ‘super intelligence’ label as U.S., China open AI talks

The State Department ordered diplomats in its Bureau of International Organization Affairs to replace “artificial intelligence” with “super intelligence” in documents, official positions and press materials after President Donald Trump called for the change at the U.N. General Assembly.

In his Tuesday address, Trump said “artificial” made the technology sound fake and declared that U.S. government documents would instead use “super intelligence,” or “SI.” U.S. representatives used the new term at a U.N. Security Council meeting Wednesday. It remained unclear whether the instruction had spread to other federal agencies.

The rebranding came as the United States and China began discussing AI safety. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington proposed a mechanism through which the countries could notify each other about national security-related AI incidents. China’s Commerce Ministry said the two sides held their first AI dialogue after Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York.

At the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping said both countries had a responsibility to keep AI development under human control. Trump, who has rejected broad international efforts to regulate the technology, said China shared his preference to leave AI largely unrestricted. He later said Xi “seemed to like” the term “super intelligence.”

Trump also announced Friday that Bessent would not become his planned AI czar, saying the Treasury secretary did not want the role and would remain at the department.