The announcement on social media and the previous executive order
U.S. President Donald Trump said on October 27, in a post on Truth Social, that he intends to formally ban use of the phrase 'artificial intelligence' in all official documents and in other settings, claiming that the term is imprecise. The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported it, as cited by IT之家. The post does not specify how the ban would be applied.
The announcement comes just weeks after a more structured measure: on September 29, Trump had signed an executive order requiring all federal agencies to use 'superintelligence' (Super Intelligence, SI) instead of 'artificial intelligence' (AI). The text, reported by the same source, states that today's frontier systems exceed the capabilities imagined when the term 'artificial intelligence' was coined and that these technologies now represent the beginning of a new era—namely, the era of superintelligence.
The Wall Street Journal's criticism and the directive to the Department of Justice
In the post, Trump directly attacked The Wall Street Journal, which he accused of continuing to use what he called a 'very ugly and imprecise' term. According to the account, the newspaper had published an article supporting retention of the designation 'artificial intelligence,' calling the presidential request to switch to 'superintelligence' a 'serious mistake.' The source also stresses that U.S. media outlets continue predominantly to use the phrase 'artificial intelligence.'
On the administrative front, the terminological change has already had a concrete effect. On October 7, according to Reuters, the Department of Justice sent an internal directive to its employees requiring that, in the vast majority of contexts, including court filings, they refer to 'superintelligence' and no longer to 'artificial intelligence.' This is the most concrete operational guidance known so far regarding application of the new nomenclature.
What is confirmed and what remains to be clarified
There are three established facts: the executive order of September 29, the post of October 27, and the internal Department of Justice directive of October 7. The practical contours of the 'ban' announced on social media, however, remain poorly defined: it is unclear whether it is an extension of the executive order, a new formal act, or a statement of intent. The September order binds federal agencies, but the source does not clarify whether and how the measure could affect private parties, the media, or non-federal documents. The episode fits into a framework in which official terminology changes by decision of the executive branch, while common use of the term 'artificial intelligence' remains prevalent in public debate and in the press.
