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US President Donald Trump says the term “artificial intelligence” makes the technology seem fake, and he wants it to be called “super intelligence” instead.

During a lengthy speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Trump welcomed the audience to what he called the new world of super intelligence, or “SI.”

Although some of the president’s allies quickly adopted the new name, experts told the BBC it is unlikely to catch on across the industry, since the term is usually reserved for far more advanced systems.

The move is the latest in a series of rebranding efforts by Trump, who previously had the names of Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico changed on US maps and in federal communications.

Trump said that from now on, all US government documents, and ideally those of other countries, would replace “artificial” with the “more accurate” term “super.”

Over the past week, Trump asked his social media followers to vote on several possible new names for AI, including superior intelligence, extreme intelligence, and supreme intelligence. After a series of polls on his Truth Social platform, super intelligence came out on top.

It remains unclear what the renaming is meant to achieve, or whether the tech industry will go along with it.

A term with a specific meaning

AI refers to computer technology that enables machines to carry out tasks that normally require human thinking. Super intelligence, however, has a distinct meaning in the tech world.

The concept is often associated with philosopher and author Nick Bostrom, who more than ten years ago described it as an intellect that surpasses humans in every way. Such a system remains purely theoretical.

Simon Coghlan, a digital ethics lecturer at the University of Melbourne, called the rebranding misleading, noting that super intelligence usually describes a system capable of improving itself. He said he doubts “SI” will last, partly because it overstates what AI can currently do. He added that if a superintelligent system were ever created, experts would consider it the most significant technology in history.

Computer scientist Kokil Jaidka said that not all of today’s AI platforms show signs of super intelligence, and that the new name borrows the prestige of a term researchers use for a much greater breakthrough.

Ben Leong, a computer science lecturer at the National University of Singapore, said he expects professionals will want to keep “SI” for a more advanced level of AI rather than use it for today’s technology, which he does not believe has reached that point.

Allies embrace the new name

Some members of Trump’s circle have already started using the term. US Chief Technology Officer Ethan Klein posted on social media that the “SI President” had spoken and that the US is and will remain the world leader in SI.

Trump’s ambassador to the UN, Michael Waltz, also backed the change, telling people who missed the speech that AI is now called super intelligence and that the president is absolutely right.

Canada’s minister of AI, Evan Solomon, was less supportive. Asked about the new name, he said Canadians are not at all enthusiastic about renaming things, in an apparent reference to Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario.

Calls for regulation dismissed

The rebranding comes as leading tech executives and researchers have been urging the US government in recent weeks and most recently this Wednesday to regulate the industry, warning that AI could pose a danger to humanity. Trump has dismissed those concerns as “a hoax.”

He has opposed regulating the technology, arguing that the US cannot afford to hand an advantage to China, its main tech rival, and that whichever country wins the AI race wins overall.

Trump said the US is far ahead of China and every other country and intends to stay that way. He added that the US will not hold back the growth of a technology he believes will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution, though he said the government would step in if needed and would guide the sector responsibly.

Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, and AI is expected to be on the agenda for the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.