President Donald Trump ordered executive branch departments and agencies to replace "artificial intelligence" with "super intelligence" on Sept. 29 during a White House AI luncheon. The directive aimed to foster U.S. AI growth with limited regulation.
Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, whose companies have positioned themselves as key administration allies, adopted Trump's preferred framing on recent third-quarter earnings calls. Musk had already renamed SpaceX's AI division to SpaceXSI in October. On Tesla's earnings call, Musk discussed humanoid robots using language that bordered on the new terminology, calling models "very impressive" but noting they don't rely on "advanced AI or SI." Zuckerberg told investors on Meta's Oct. 21 call that the company aims to deliver "personal superintelligence to everyone," a phrase that echoes Meta Superintelligence Labs, a unit established last year.
But other major tech CEOs have continued using "AI" in their earnings communications and corporate disclosures. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy used the abbreviation more than a dozen times during Thursday's earnings call. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella cited "designing AI to empower people" as a core focus a day earlier. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai opened his quarterly earnings commentary by stating the search giant's "AI investments are driving increased usage and overall user growth."
The divergence mirrors the broader divide in how Silicon Valley has responded to Trump administration policies. Musk and Zuckerberg have cultivated close ties to Trump, while other executives have been more cautious. Microsoft's annual report, filed last week, included eight mentions of "super intelligence," beginning in the letter to shareholders—suggesting the terminology may be gaining traction in formal corporate documents even among companies not fully embracing it in public remarks.
