President Donald Trump hosted many of the biggest names in artificial intelligence at the White House this week, using the occasion to announce that the U.S. government is no longer calling it artificial intelligence. The new official term: super intelligence.
The meeting brought together Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and other tech leaders for what the administration framed as a major AI safety moment. The executives signed a 'Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities,' though critics were quick to note the agreement is entirely voluntary and legally non-binding. Trump described it as 'morally binding.'
The rebranding effort appears calculated. As one TechCrunch Equity podcast analyst noted, the message is clear: 'AI is going to kill us, it's scary, it is going to take jobs — but super intelligence is not.' The terminology shift comes via executive order, meaning all official U.S. representatives are now expected to use the new term.
The summit also served to repair relationships between the administration and companies like Anthropic, which had fallen out of favor with the Defense Department. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei was invited to a private dinner with Trump days before the public summit, signaling a thaw. However, the Defense Department has continued to criticize Anthropic publicly, suggesting the rift is not fully resolved.
Industry observers note the pact contains few concrete commitments. The document famously misspelled 'United States,' suggesting it was assembled in haste. Whether the rebranding effort changes public perception of AI remains to be seen, but the political theater around it signals the industry's growing entanglement with Washington.
