Trump’s ‘Super Intelligence’ Loyalty Test: Salesforce and SpaceX Rebrand as OpenAI Refuses
Trump pushes a government-wide rebrand from “AI” to “Super Intelligence,” and two major tech companies are already falling in line—while others resist.
President Donald Trump has turned the term “artificial intelligence” into a political loyalty test, warning that anyone using the phrase instead of “super intelligence” will be considered an “enemy” of the White House [257411][258720]. The push, formalized in a September 29 executive order, directs federal agencies to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in official communications, websites, reports, and policy documents wherever the law allows [258720]. Private companies are not legally required to follow the order, but the president’s preferred language is already spreading into corporate branding [258720].
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced Friday that his company’s AIForce platform will be renamed SIForce, writing on X: “The era of Super Intelligence is here. AIForce is officially SIForce” [258720]. The change applies to the agent platform, not the company’s corporate name [258720]. Elon Musk also pledged on Sunday to rename SpaceXAI as SpaceXSI, which would be the second rebrand this year for the unit originally known as xAI [257411][258720].
The White House argues that AI has outgrown its name. The executive order says today’s systems increasingly amplify human creativity, and that “Super Intelligence” better captures their potential [258720]. Trump has said the term “artificial intelligence” suggests the technology is “fake” [257411].
Not everyone is complying. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently dismissed the idea of renaming his company. “No plans to do that,” he told the Politico Decoded podcast. “But we have been talking about super intelligence a lot and we will continue to talk about it” [257411]. OpenAI President Greg Brockman, speaking with Trump standing just feet away, said the company “builds artificial intelligence” to help everyone [257411]. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also corrected himself after saying “AI” instead of “SI” during a White House panel discussion [257411].
The rebranding push creates practical problems for companies whose names include AI, including OpenAI, Scale AI, Character AI, and Resolve AI, none of which responded to requests for comment [258720]. It also raises a question: what counts as superintelligence? The term generally describes systems far more capable than humans across a wide range of tasks, and renaming existing products does not prove they meet that standard [258720].
If enforced against private individuals or companies, the language demand would likely violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech [257411]. The executive order does not apply to private companies because the White House has no legal authority to enforce it [257411].