The White House wants a new name for artificial intelligence, and the companies behind it want to sell it to businesses instead of consumers. This week, President Donald Trump called AI “super intelligence” and made it official policy, while Meta and OpenAI are putting friendlier faces on their AI products. The biggest money in AI still appears to be coming from the enterprise.
The White House Meeting
Nearly every major tech CEO showed up at the White House this week, including Zuckerberg, Bezos, Musk and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei. They signed an AI safety pledge that Trump called “morally binding.”
Public Markets Grow Picky
Oura pulled its initial public offering, and Anthropic’s leaked S-1 filing shows the company is raising money privately again. OpenAI is also moving back to private funding. The pattern is clear: public investors are becoming more selective about which AI companies they back.
The Maritime Shipping Sensor Play
Quartermaster raised $140 million to bring real-time sensors to maritime shipping. That is an industry AI has barely touched so far.
The Supply Chain Startup Already Running DoorDash
Atomic, a supply-chain startup founded by ex-Tesla veterans, is already handling 90% of DoorDash’s purchasing.
Insurance for Satellites
Charter Space raised $5 million to bring insurance to satellites. The startup is a finalist in TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield competition.
Startup Battlefield at Disrupt
TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield runs at Disrupt 2026, where Equity will kick things off with a live show on the Builders Stage at 9 a.m. Get 25% off your tickets with code Equity25.
The Consumer Problem
The source notes that only 2% of consumers are buying AI. The rest of the market is enterprise.
The Companies and the White House
| Who | What |
|---|---|
| Trump | Renamed AI as “super intelligence” |
| CEOs | Signed a safety pledge |
| Meta and OpenAI | Putting friendlier faces on their AI products |
| Investors | Funding only select AI startups |
The contrast between the White House’s branding and the market’s behavior is striking. Trump wants a new name for AI, but the companies making it are focusing on enterprise customers who will actually pay for it. Here is how the two approaches compare:
- Trump’s approach: rename AI as “super intelligence,” make it official policy
- Companies’ approach: put friendlier faces on AI products, target enterprise customers
- Market’s approach: public investors fund only select AI startups
Source material: “Call it AI, call it Super Intelligence, only 2% of consumers are buying it,” TechCrunch.
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