US diplomats asked to use ‘Super Intelligence’ instead of Artificial Intelligence in official documents: Report

In his UNGA address on Tuesday, President Trump rejected calls for international oversight of artificial intelligence while describing global efforts to regulate the technology as a “globalist scheme”.

The US State Department is ordering diplomats in its international organisations bureau to use the term "super intelligence" instead of "artificial intelligence" in all communications following President Donald Trump's attempt to rebrand the technology in his address to the UN General Assembly this week, news agency AP said.

"Following the president's remarks at the GA today, please change all references of Artificial Intelligence' to Super Intelligence' in our documents and positions. We will be using SI' in all remarks, positions and press elements moving forward," said an email sent Tuesday (local time) to employees by Michael Drager, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

That bureau is in charge of US diplomatic missions to all UN and multilateral agencies around the world. The email, titled "Change in Nomenclature AI to SI," was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if other State Department bureaus had or would follow suit, the AP report said.

What Trump said at UNGA

In his UNGA address on Tuesday, President Trump rejected calls for international oversight of artificial intelligence while describing global efforts to regulate the technology as a “globalist scheme”.

Trump said US would continue to encourage AI development rather than impose new restrictions, arguing that maintaining American leadership in the technology was essential. .

Trump told the UN General Assembly that he would "officially" change the name of AI, saying the existing name makes the technology seem "fake" and that US government documents would from that point forward use "super intelligence."

When was the email sent?

(With AP inputs)