Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg both used the phrase "super intelligence" in their financial reports, according to a request made by US President Donald Trump in September.

President Trump signed an executive order at the end of September requiring government agencies to use the term "super intelligence" (SI - super intelligence) instead of "artificial intelligence" (AI - artificial intelligence), after lunch with top leaders of the US technology industry.

On October 28, Mr. Trump continued to ban the use of the term "artificial intelligence" in documents related to the US government, emphasizing the need to replace it with "super intelligence".

SpaceX and Tesla complied with the request in their financial statements released last week. Billionaire Elon Musk also changed the name of the AI ​​department at SpaceX to SpaceXSI. Referring to efforts to develop humanoid robots, he asserted that the products are "deeply impressive, but do not use advanced AI or SI".

Mark Zuckerberg did the same in the financial report, emphasizing Meta's goal of "providing personal SI to everyone". In fact, Meta has been using the term SI since last year when it established Meta Superintelligence Labs.

Musk and Zuckerberg are considered the most fervent supporters of President Trump among American technology CEOs, but they are not unique cases. Many people contributed money to Mr. Trump's inauguration activities and the project to build a banquet hall worth hundreds of millions of dollars at the White House, even raising plans to eliminate "diversity, equity and inclusion" (DEI) programs that US leaders have always opposed. However, most are still not ready to abandon the term "AI".

Use mixed terminology

The popularity of "AI" in financial reports does not mean that other technology CEOs are openly opposing President Trump. The term "SI" has appeared in many other documents.

The annual report submitted by Microsoft last week mentioned "super intelligence" eight times. "For Microsoft, the central question as we enter the era of super intelligence is not how big the opportunity will be, but how we will deliver real-world results worthy of every country, community and business," CEO Satya Nadella wrote.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, who did not attend the working lunch with Mr. Trump in September, uses both "SI" and "AI" in financial reports. "Technological advances in hybrid infrastructure and super intelligence are leading to greater business performance," he said, adding that IBM is evolving as a "software-led cloud and AI platform company."

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said on October 29 that the supply shortage the semiconductor industry is experiencing is "driven by unprecedented demand for super intelligence".

Some businesses are publicly expressing support for President Trump's language before releasing financial reports next month. Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, repeatedly mentioned "SI" in an interview with CNBC and a post on X on October 30. "The meeting at the White House surrounding SI was the moment of a lifetime," he wrote.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, President Trump's top ally in the technology industry and AI management, also expressed support for the new designation. "Superintelligence offers unique opportunities to accelerate discovery, improve work productivity, security, health and prosperity. The future of superintelligence is shaped not only by what it can do, but also by the trust it earns," Huang said.

Diep Anh (According to CNBC, Reuters)