In brief
On 5 October, Donald Trump unveiled a new taskforce dubbed the ‘Super Intelligence Force’ with the aim of re‑branding artificial intelligence and ensuring U.S. leadership in the field. The force, chaired by Jay Clayton, will coordinate federal engagement with consumers, public‑interest groups, religious bodies, critical‑infrastructure operators and AI firms. It follows an executive order that replaced the term AI with ‘Super Intelligence’ in official documents and an industry‑drafted “morally binding” safety pact. Key federal officials—including the FTC chair and a top DoD research officer—will sit on the council, which reports directly to the president and White House chief of staff. Industry figures, from Sam Altman of OpenAI to Elon Musk, are offering mixed reactions as the taskforce seeks to balance innovation with safety concerns.
In a high‑profile Oval Office speech on Sunday, President Trump unveiled a new taskforce dedicated to overseeing the nation’s artificial‑intelligence strategy. The group, dubbed the ‘Super Intelligence Force’, will be headed by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and is charged with ensuring the United States remains at the forefront of AI development while coordinating federal engagement with a wide array of stakeholders.
The announcement follows an executive order issued on 29 September that re‑named artificial intelligence ‘Super Intelligence’—a move Trump said would dispel the “fake” connotation of the term ‘AI’. The order also mandates that all federal agencies adopt ‘SI’ or ‘Super Intelligence’ in official documents, reports and websites.
The taskforce will bring together the FTC chair Andrew Ferguson, DoD undersecretary Emil Michael and personnel‑management director Scott Kupor among its ranks, and reports directly to the president and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Clayton, who assumed the intelligence director role in August after lawmakers rejected his first choice, had previously overseen a major drug‑trafficking case at the Southern District of New York.
Industry voices are split. Sam Altman of OpenAI argued that the benefits of AI outweigh the risks and that the technology should stay accessible. By contrast, a former Internal‑AI safety lead at OpenAI warned that the company’s culture was “broken” and highlighted ongoing security breaches, including a recent unauthorized Facebook‑style leak from Australian government systems.
Trump’s rebranding and the creation of the Super Intelligence Force have sparked debate over the efficacy of renaming AI and whether federal oversight is sufficient. Critics worry that the name change might confuse the public and undermine efforts to regulate more advanced systems that could surpass human intelligence.
Elon Musk has already adopted the new terminology, announcing that his SpaceX AI arm will be called SpaceXSI and labeling the company a “super intelligence company”. Musk’s own involvement in a Trump administration office on the future of war underscores the deeply intertwined nature of tech leadership and policy-making.
