Topline
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed an executive order declaring that AI will continue to be referred to as “Artificial Intelligence” in California, rejecting President Donald Trump’s push to rebrand the technology as “Super Intelligence” in government communications and documents.
Governor of California Gavin Newsom signed an executive order rejecting Trump’s Super Intelligence rebrand of AI.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
The California executive order calls out the president’s rebranding, saying it is bid to distract from an “impotent and craven failure to take action to address well-documented emerging security and safety risks posed by that thing.”
Newsom’s order notes that California dominates AI innovation and argues that no state has “taken more aggressive action to strengthen the safety, security, and consumer privacy of AI.”
Newsom’s order requires all agencies and departments under his authority to continue to refer to the technology as Artificial Intelligence and AI “notwithstanding any rebranded or different terminology used by the federal government.”
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Newsom said, “Super intelligence is clearly not coming from the White House,” and that’s why his state “continues to lead” on AI regulation.
In addition to the executive order, the California governor also signed laws that ban employers in the state from relying on AI to make disciplinary or layoff decisions and require companies to send notices if AI adoption causes a mass layoff.
Crucial Quote
While signing the executive order and laws, Newsom criticized Trump’s Tuesday meeting with AI industry leaders and their signing of a voluntary safety accord. He said: “What I heard in Washington, D.C., yesterday is bullshit and that should scare the hell out of everybody. The idea that maybe big pharma is going to come in tomorrow and say, ‘We don’t need to be regulated by the FDA anymore.’ Maybe the airline industry is going to come in and say, ‘Hey, we got this. The laws are already strong enough. We don’t need an FAA.’ Give me a break.”
What do we Know about Trump’s Super Intelligence Order?
On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order renaming artificial intelligence to “super intelligence” in a rebrand that came amid growing concerns about AI safety and hours after he met top AI industry executives at the White House. The order argued that the “extraordinary technologies” being built by American tech companies “far exceed what was envisioned when the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ first came into use.” It noted that modern frontier AI models are capable of much more than imitating or automating “discrete aspects of human intelligence.” The order directed federal departments and agencies to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in official communications and documents going forward. It also noted that the executive branch will no longer “acknowledge the usage of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘AI’ in any applicable setting.”
What has trump said about renaming AI to Super Intelligence?
Earlier this month, the president conducted a poll on Truth Social asking his followers to choose a new name for AI, claiming “Artificial Intelligence” is “inaccurate, and very ineloquent.” He argued “Superior Intelligence (SI) or, Extreme Intelligence (EI) or, Supreme Intelligence (SI)” would all be “far more elegant and accurate.” Superior Intelligence topped the poll, which received arond 66,000 votes. A day later Trump ran another Truth Social poll pitting “Superior Intelligence” against “Super Intelligence” with the latter winning more votes. The president, then started using the phrase “Super Intelligence” in his address to the United Nations General Assembly where he said the word “artificial” makes it sound like fake intelligence. “From this point forward, all of United States documents and hopefully the world’s will be changed to use the much more accurate term super as opposed to artificial. So it’s super intelligence,” he said.
further reading
Trump Signs Executive Order Renaming AI To ‘Super Intelligence’—Here’s What It Changes (Forbes)
Leave a comment