China's foreign ministry said it "respects" President Trump's proposal to call artificial intelligence "super intelligence" but will not adopt the term. Trump said Xi Jinping reacted positively during a recent three-day U.S. visit and promoted the idea on Truth Social, where the phrase won about 65% in a Sept. 21 poll. The discussion coincides with industry warnings from Anthropic's Dario Amodei — echoed by Elon Musk and Sam Altman — that AI development may need to slow, a view Trump has dismissed as a "HOAX."
China 'Respects' Trump's Push To Call AI 'Super Intelligence' — Says It Won't Use The Term
(Screenshot via X)
China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that it "respects" President Donald Trump's proposal to relabel artificial intelligence as "super intelligence," but added that Beijing has no plans to adopt the new term.
Trump claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping reacted positively to the suggested name change during Xi's official three-day visit to the United States. The president highlighted the purported reaction in a Truth Social post after what he described as a "very productive meeting" with Xi.
Trump's Social Media Push
Over the past week Mr. Trump has repeatedly promoted renaming "AI," saying the abbreviation is "very ineloquent." He ran a series of Truth Social polls offering alternatives such as Super Intelligence, Extreme Intelligence, and Supreme Intelligence. In a Sept. 21 head-to-head poll, "super intelligence" beat "superior intelligence" with roughly 65% of the vote.
Where China Stands
The Chinese foreign ministry's response was measured: it said it "respects" the proposal but emphasized that China will continue to use its established terminology and has no intention of changing official language to "super intelligence."
Context: AI Safety Debate
The renaming debate comes amid broader concerns about the pace of AI development. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has urged a slowdown to reduce risks of the technology "going off the rails" and harming people. Prominent figures in the AI industry, including Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, publicly echoed Amodei's warning.
Mr. Trump has dismissed those doomsday scenarios as a "HOAX," and has said such fears should not derail progress.
Before attending a college football game on Saturday, Trump reiterated that the United States would not slow its AI efforts: "The United States of America is not going to be putting on brakes. They want to stop our progress because we're leading China by a lot, and we're going to keep it that way."
Why It Matters
While the renaming itself is largely symbolic, the exchange highlights how AI policy and rhetoric have become entangled with geopolitics. The U.S.-China competition over advanced technologies remains a central theme in both countries' public discourse.
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