Trump signs executive order rebranding AI as 'super intelligence' after tech CEO pledge

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 29, 2026, rebranding artificial intelligence as 'super intelligence' or 'SI' after major tech CEOs including Zuckerberg, Bezos, Musk, and Amodei signed a 'morally binding' AI safety pledge that misspelled 'United States.' The rebranding follows Trump's September 22 UN General Assembly declaration and has drawn mockery from tech insiders, prompting California Governor Gavin Newsom to issue a counter-order maintaining 'AI' terminology. Critics allege the move enriches the Trump family through Slovenia's .si domain registrations, which surged from dozens daily to thousands after Trump's UN speech, noting Melania and Barron Trump hold Slovenian citizenship. The controversy unfolds as global AI investment reaches $1 trillion in 2026, with $581 billion in the U.S., while Trump's family businesses reportedly profit billions from various ventures during his presidency.

Trump AI-to-SI rebranding executive order

• ▪A recent poll showed that Americans would rather have a nuclear power plant in their communities than an AI data center.
• ▪Donald Trump signed an executive order rebranding artificial intelligence as 'super intelligence' or 'SI'.
• ▪Donald Trump declared at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2026 that it would demonstrate his power over the world if other countries called artificial intelligence 'super intelligence'.
• ▪Donald Trump and tech oligarchs signed an AI accord on September 29, 2026 that misspelled 'United States' as 'Unites States'.

Slovenia .si domain speculation theory

• ▪The .si top-level domain is for Slovenia.
• ▪Slovenia .si domain registrations surged after Donald Trump's speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2026.
• ▪New domain registrations for .si were only dozens per day from 2023 to 2025.
• ▪Melania Trump and Barron Trump both have Slovenian citizenship.
• ▪Adam Cochran alleged that Donald Trump's 'SI' executive order was a criminal plot to enrich the Trump family through .si domain name profits.
• ▪Slovenia .si domain registrations increased to hundreds in June 2026 and accelerated to thousands in July 2026.

Superintelligence term history

• ▪Mark Zuckerberg wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on July 28, 2026 stating that in the next few years people will be able to use superintelligence beyond human capacity to create and discover extraordinary new things.
• ▪Philosopher Nick Bostrom popularized the term superintelligence in 2014 with the book 'Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies'.
• ▪Mark Zuckerberg posted on July 28, 2026 that he wrote about why the future is for everyone and would share more about a positive vision for a world with superintelligence soon.
• ▪The word superintelligence has traditionally meant a form of artificial intelligence that is beyond all human capabilities.

Tech industry adoption of SI

• ▪Jensen Huang declared on September 29, 2026 that AI data centers are now 'superintelligence factories'.
• ▪Elon Musk called it AI while standing next to Donald Trump on September 29, 2026 before correcting himself and saying SI.
• ▪OpenAI launched Dot as its AI agent answer to Meta's Muse.
• ▪Elon Musk and Jensen Huang used the name 'super intelligence' or 'SI' after Donald Trump's rebranding effort.
• ▪Jensen Huang called it AI on stage on September 29, 2026 before correcting himself to say SI.
• ▪Capital investment in artificial intelligence globally will reach $1 trillion in 2026, including $581 billion in the U.S., according to Goldman Sachs.
• ▪SpaceXAI bought the domain Dot.com to redirect to Elon Musk's Grok Bot.

Trump family financial conflicts

• ▪President Donald Trump made $2.2 billion in 2025 while in office.
• ▪Donald Trump's sons Eric and Don Jr. have invested in businesses that are scoring military contracts totaling at least $3.2 billion.
• ▪Donald Trump's sons are earning money from their crypto business World Liberty Financial.
• ▪Meta cut $2 billion from its taxes in 2024 and $3.9 billion in 2025 by classifying its data centers as experimental 'pilot models' to get tax breaks passed into law in the 1980s.

Federal investigations into insider trading

• ▪The FBI shut down an investigation into a pay-for-play scheme involving Maine Senator Susan Collins.
• ▪Donald Trump's Justice Department shut down an investigation into border czar Tom Homan who was accused of accepting $50,000 in a Cava bag to steer immigration-related contracts.
• ▪Donald Trump's teleprompter operator allegedly made $100,000 betting on the words Donald Trump was going to say in speeches.
• ▪Adam Cochran is a social media gadfly and crypto venture capitalist.
• ▪The U.S. Department of Justice charged an American soldier who allegedly made over $400,000 betting on Polymarket about when Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro would be ousted.

Perspective of Adam Cochran (crypto venture capitalist and social media critic)

• ▪Adam Cochran connected Melania and Barron Trump's Slovenian citizenship to potential financial benefits from increased .si domain registrations.
• ▪Adam Cochran alleged that the timing of Slovenia .si domain registration surges after Trump's UN speech suggests coordination for financial gain.

Debatable claims

• ▪Rebranding AI as super intelligence misrepresents current technology capabilities
• ▪Trump's AI rebranding serves to profit from Slovenian domain registrations
• ▪Tech companies rebrand AI to justify trillion-dollar capital investments
• ▪Meta's experimental classification of AI data centers abuses tax incentives