Silicon Valley scrambles to adopt Trump's new AI term

What happened

Trump said at the United Nations in late September that "superintelligence" is a better term than "artificial intelligence." A few days later he signed an order asking that government documents using "AI" be renamed. In late October he wrote on Truth Social that anyone who uses "artificial intelligence" instead of "superintelligence" is an enemy of the White House. Since then, many tech leaders have been careful with their words, and some even correct themselves in the middle of an interview.

Key numbers and facts

• Microsoft's yearly report from October mentions "SI" 8 times.
• Among 119 S&P 500 companies that talked about AI in investor meetings, filings or press releases, 7 used "SI" or a similar phrase.
• Another 11 companies used both "SI" and "AI."
• Salesforce renamed its AIForce platform to SIForce.

How companies are reacting

Leaders react in different ways. Microsoft's Brad Smith quickly changed "AI" to "SI" in a podcast, but a spokesperson said leaders still use many terms. Nvidia's Jensen Huang uses different words depending on the setting. Elon Musk said SpaceX's AI unit will soon become "SpaceXSI." Meta's Mark Zuckerberg talks about giving everyone "personal SI." IBM's Arvind Krishna uses both words. Changing terms is harder for companies whose brand names include "AI."

Why it matters

Words shape how people see a technology and what they expect from it. When the US government and big companies all use the same new word, it can change how investors, customers and lawmakers think about AI. Some companies, however, still use both words, so it is not yet clear which term will win.

What to watch

• Whether more companies change their brand names from "AI" to "SI."
• Whether government documents are officially renamed under Trump's order.
• What OpenAI, whose CEO Sam Altman said the change is not easy for companies with "AI" in their brand names, decides to do.