Artificial Intelligence1 min read

Musk and Zuckerberg echo Trump's push to rebrand AI as 'super intelligence' on earnings calls. Others did not

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The change in corporate rhetoric gained traction after Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to replace standard terminology and prohibited the phrase "artificial intelligence" in relevant documents. Tech leaders Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg quickly adopted the phrasing during quarterly presentations, with Musk citing "advanced AI or SI" and Zuckerberg discussing personalized access to the technology. However, chief executives from Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft adhered primarily to traditional acronyms when addressing investors. Other industry figures, including leaders from Nvidia, Intel, and Palo Alto Networks, have also begun publicly embracing the administration's preferred terminolo…

Key points

  • Corporate leadership remains divided on immediately mirroring the White House's mandated…: Corporate leadership remains divided on immediately mirroring the White House's mandated terminology during public investor presentations.
  • The administration is driving the technological rebranding effort alongside a push for in…: The administration is driving the technological rebranding effort alongside a push for industry growth with limited government regulations.
  • Multiple prominent technology executives, including Jensen Huang and Arvind Krishna, are…: Multiple prominent technology executives, including Jensen Huang and Arvind Krishna, are increasingly weaving the administration's terminology into their public communications.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

A month after President Donald Trump ordered that the term "super intelligence" replace artificial intelligence within executive branch departments and agencies, his leading tech allies — Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg — followed suit on earnings calls. Their fellow tech CEOs were less eager to do the same.

Trump's declaration took place on Sept. 29, while he was hosting an AI luncheon at the White House for industry leaders. At the time, he was working to ensure the growth of AI in the U.S. with limited regulations. The president this week announced on Truth Social that he's banning the use of AI or artificial intelligence in "all relevant documents" and "everything else."

SpaceX and Tesla adhered to Trump's wishes on earnings calls last week after Musk, earlier in October, changed the name of his rocket company's AI division to SpaceXSI. Speaking on Tesla's call about his work on humanoid robots, Musk said, "Some of them look very impressive, but they're not really using any kind of advanced AI or SI."

Zuckerberg was equally compliant on Meta's earnings call on Oct.…

Artificial Intelligence