President Trump opened a poll on Saturday, Sept. 19, on X and on his own platform, Truth Social, asking for a new name for AI, or Artificial Intelligence. The poll offers three options: Superior Intelligence (SI), Extreme Intelligence (EI), and Supreme Intelligence (SI).
Trump posted: “Many people think that the words ‘Artificial Intelligence’ are inaccurate, and very ineloquent, relative to AI, or Artificial Intelligence. A far more elegant and accurate description of this new phenomena [sic] would be Superior Intelligence (SI) or, Extreme Intelligence (EI) or, Supreme Intelligence (SI).” As of this writing, “Superior Intelligence” led on X with around 39 percent of the vote.
The Poll’s Three Choices
The three options share a pattern. All three end in “Intelligence,” and two of the three repeat the same abbreviation, SI, which stands for either Superior or Supreme depending on which version you pick. The question itself asks for a new name for AI, but the options are exact replacements, not new labels.
Trump’s Push Against Fear
Trump called fears around AI a “hoax” this week on social media. He said he won’t hinder the growth of the AI industry. The poll itself fits that push — it treats the technology as a settled fact rather than a risk.
The Meeting With Executives
Trump wants to meet with AI executives next week, per the New York Times. A White House official told the Times on Thursday that no meeting was on the calendar.
What The Industry Says
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently agreed the industry should slow AI development. An Anthropic researcher resigned saying AI could “kill us all” by the end of the decade.
The California Move
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Friday to create a panel to strengthen the state’s AI safety laws. That move puts a governor on record pushing regulation while the president polls voters on branding.
The Military Report
Reports surfaced this week that a U.S. military analyst generated a false report using AI that “almost started a war” with China.
What The Poll Actually Does
The poll changes nothing. It does not change the law, the technology, or the public conversation. It is a branding exercise dressed up as a democratic one.
What To Watch Next
- Whether the meeting with executives happens next week
- How the California panel proceeds
- Whether the military report changes how the public thinks about AI risks
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Poll opened | Saturday, Sept. 19 |
| White House official told Times no meeting on calendar | Thursday |
| Newsom executive order issued | Friday |
| Trump-AI executive meeting scheduled | Next week |
The poll is a branding exercise, not a policy decision. It lets Trump ask his followers to weigh in on what they call the technology, while the vote counts themselves carry no legal weight. The options are all variations on the same theme, and the vote counts themselves mean nothing beyond the moment they are counted.
It is a clever move, but it is a move, not a plan.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs none of the three proposed names and opposes any regulation that would treat the technology itself as the problem, whether through licensing, disclosure mandates, or federal oversight, since all risk freezing today’s leaders in place and locking out smaller challengers. The poll is a branding exercise, not a policy decision, and the paper sees it as a move that lets Trump ask his followers to weigh in on what they call the technology while the vote counts themselves carry no legal weight.
The poll does not change the law, the technology, or the public conversation. It is a branding exercise dressed up as a democratic one. The options are all variations on the same theme, and the vote counts themselves mean nothing beyond the moment they are counted.
The paper would prefer that policy decisions about AI be made openly, with clear rules against hiding safety failures rather than with branding exercises that pretend to engage the public while doing nothing. Readers should watch how the California panel proceeds and whether the military report changes how the public thinks about AI risks.
Source material: “Trump opens poll to rename AI. Options include Extreme and Supreme Intelligence.,” Mashable.
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