Trump says he will ban the term 'artificial intelligence'

Key takeaways

• In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Donald Trump promised to "officially" drop the words "AI/Artificial Intelligence" from relevant documents "and everything else".
• The post gave no timeline, no legal mechanism and no penalty, according to HuffPost and The Independent.
• It builds on Executive Order 14434, signed on September 29, 2026, which tells federal agencies to say "Super Intelligence" (SI) instead of "artificial intelligence" (AI).
• That order binds only executive branch agencies; it changes no statute and imposes nothing on companies, media or citizens, according to a legal analysis by Arnold & Porter.

What happened: Trump says he will ban the term artificial intelligence

President Donald Trump said on October 27 that he will ban the term "artificial intelligence", calling it inaccurate and pressing again for his preferred phrase, "Super Intelligence". He did not explain how the ban would work or who it would cover.

The remark came in a Truth Social post that attacked The Wall Street Journal for continuing to use "AI". According to The Independent, Trump asked when the newspaper would start calling artificial intelligence "a very bad and inaccurate name". He then wrote: "In short order, we will be officially BANNING the term, 'AI/Artificial Intelligence,'" adding that this would apply "in all relevant documents, and everything else, due to its inaccuracy."

The Independent's report, syndicated on Yahoo News, was published at 18:36 UTC on October 27. HuffPost published its story at 15:23 EDT (19:23 UTC) the same day. Both said the post followed a Wall Street Journal opinion newsletter titled "Let AI Be AI", which argued that "AI" is a widely recognized name and that "SI" already stands for Sports Illustrated and the International System of Units.

What we know and what we don't know yet

What we know

• The rename already exists on paper for the federal government. Executive Order 14434, "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence", was signed on September 29, 2026 and published in the Federal Register on October 2 at 91 Fed. Reg. 63129.
• The order tells agencies to use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in correspondence, public communications, websites, reports and policy documents "to the maximum extent permitted by law", according to Arnold & Porter.
• For now, "Super Intelligence" carries the same legal meaning as "artificial intelligence" in 15 U.S.C. § 9401(3). The order gives the president's science and technology adviser 60 days, to late November 2026, to propose legislative language for a new definition.
• On October 8, 2026, Trump posted that the White House considers anyone using "Artificial Intelligence" instead of "Super Intelligence" to be "THE ENEMY", without naming any penalty, Arnold & Porter noted.

What we don't know yet

• What "officially BANNING" would mean in practice, and whether it goes beyond the September order. The post itself gave no timeline or method, HuffPost and The Independent reported.
• Whether any penalty is planned. HuffPost said the White House did not immediately respond when asked what penalties could apply to people who use "AI".
• How a ban on private speech would square with the First Amendment. HuffPost reported, citing Mediaite, that the White House answered that question with "Refer to the truth."

Timeline of the "Super Intelligence" rename

Background: what the executive order does and doesn't do

The order states that "the terminology used by the Federal Government should reflect the transformative capabilities of these technologies", as quoted by The Independent. Its reach is narrow. Arnold & Porter's analysis says it changes no statute, places no obligations on private parties and contains no penalty or enforcement provision. Agencies also do not have to rewrite earlier regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants or other historical documents.

On the day the order was signed, Trump and leaders of six technology companies, Google, Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI, SpaceXAI and Nvidia, signed the White House Accord on Super Intelligence. Arnold & Porter describes it as a set of voluntary commitments on controls and audits for frontier models.

The phrase "artificial intelligence" itself dates to 1955 and is credited to computer scientist John McCarthy, The Independent noted. It is written into US federal law, which is why the order kept the statutory definition in place.

The rename has drawn criticism from researchers. HuffPost reported that Geoffrey Hinton, often called a "godfather" of AI, told The Guardian earlier this month that Trump "has taken a technical term which has a very clear meaning and then reused it." Brookings Institution researcher Darrell West told HuffPost he did not think a new word would bring the public more reassurance. A University of Massachusetts Amherst survey cited by The Independent found that 23% of Americans think Trump has handled AI well, while 57% say he has handled it poorly.

The administration has also been active on other AI policy, including a proposal to share data center revenue with host communities, covered in Trump's data center dividend plan. Rules on AI in politics are moving at state level too; see how states regulate AI political ads before the midterms.

What it means

For now, the practical effect is limited to the federal government's own wording. Agencies already have to say "SI" under the September order. Companies, publishers and the public are not covered by any legal requirement, and the post did not set one out.

The bigger question is whether the White House turns the post into new rules, for example in procurement documents, grant language or the legislative definition due in late November. Any attempt to restrict how private citizens or media use a common term would probably face First Amendment challenges, and the White House has not said how it would enforce such a ban.

For businesses selling to the federal government, the label on documents may change, but the technology and the legal definition stay the same for now. Readers who want the basics behind the terminology can start with what an AI agent is and why AI models hallucinate. Government use of AI tools is also changing elsewhere; see Sweden's ban on ChatGPT and Claude in government offices.