Trump announces Super Intelligence Force to coordinate US federal superintelligence work
Version 2: Xinhua has now also reported the announcement, publishing a headline only, while no new details of the task force itself have emerged.
In short
US President Donald Trump announced on October 4 the establishment of the Super Intelligence Force (SIF), which will coordinate the federal government's work in the superintelligence field. Trump said it will handle communication and cooperation between the federal government and consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, critical infrastructure providers and superintelligence companies. It will be led jointly by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, Defense Department Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, reporting to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
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US President Donald Trump announced on October 4 the establishment of the Super Intelligence Force (SIF), which will coordinate the federal government's work in the superintelligence field, according to Yicai, CLS, Jiemian, cnBeta and China News Service, several of which cited CCTV News. Trump said the task force will coordinate communication and cooperation between the federal government and consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, critical infrastructure providers and superintelligence companies. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
The task force will be led jointly by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson, Defense Department Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, and will report to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Jiemian and China News Service noted that the announcement follows a September 29 executive order under which federal departments are to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in official communications, public statements, government websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents, to the maximum extent permitted by law. cnBeta also referenced that order. [ 1 , 4 , 6 ]
The tech outlet cnBeta reported details not carried by the other documents: the task force will have three vice chairs covering industry, infrastructure and consumer interests, with Michael mainly coordinating with AI companies, Kupor working with critical infrastructure firms and other industry participants, and Ferguson handling consumer interests along with issues including children, privacy, free speech, religious belief and freedom of association. It said members also include Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Wiles, with external advisers including venture investor David Sacks and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who it said would take part in national security discussions. [ 1 ]
cnBeta further reported that the administration does not currently intend for the federal regulatory system to replace AI companies' own safety mechanisms. Under the arrangement it described, the task force will continue working with OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia to identify risks, review whether existing laws are sufficient for new AI-related problems, study whether Congress needs to legislate further, and assess whether current systems can handle AI security incidents such as data breaches, hacking and model “jailbreaks”. Companies would remain the first layer of safety control while government takes a coordination and backstop role, it said. [ 1 ]
The same outlet said the approach is consistent with voluntary safety principles agreed at an earlier White House meeting attended by OpenAI president Greg Brockman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, covering model monitoring, independent review and reporting major safety issues to boards. It described Clayton as the administration's new AI policy coordinator and said that falling behind in AI competition could itself increase known and unknown risks, so the task force's stated aim is to pursue both technological leadership and control of safety risks. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
The task force places coordination of US superintelligence policy under intelligence, trade, defense and personnel officials, with reporting lines running to the president and the White House chief of staff. The September 29 order renaming “artificial intelligence” as “super intelligence” in official federal documents changes the language Washington uses for the technology. Chinese business, tech and state outlets reported the announcement within hours, reflecting interest in how the US organises AI oversight.
Key facts
- Trump announced the Super Intelligence Force (SIF) on October 4 to coordinate federal government work in the superintelligence field. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- Trump said the task force will coordinate communication and cooperation between the federal government and consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, critical infrastructure providers and superintelligence companies. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- It will be led jointly by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, Defense Department Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- The task force will report to President Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- A September 29 executive order directs federal departments to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in official communications, public statements, government websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents, to the maximum extent the law allows. [ 1 , 4 , 6 ]
- cnBeta reported the task force will have three vice chairs covering industry, infrastructure and consumer interests, and that members include Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Wiles, with external advisers including venture investor David Sacks and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. [ 1 ]
- cnBeta reported the administration does not intend federal regulation to replace AI companies' own safety mechanisms, and that the task force will keep working with OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia to identify risks and review whether existing laws are sufficient. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Trump announced the Super Intelligence Force (SIF) on October 4 to coordinate the US federal government's work related to superintelligence. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- The task force will coordinate the federal government's communication and cooperation with consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, critical infrastructure providers and superintelligence companies. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- The task force is jointly led by Jay Clayton, Andrew Ferguson, Emil Michael and Scott Kupor, and reports to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- Trump issued an executive order on September 29 on replacing “Artificial Intelligence” with “Super Intelligence” in official federal communications and documents. [ 1 , 4 , 6 ]
- Business outlets Yicai, CLS and Jiemian, tech outlet cnBeta and official outlets China News Service and Xinhua all reported the announcement; several said it came from CCTV News. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
Still unclear
- The internal structure described by cnBeta — three vice chairs for industry, infrastructure and consumer interests, and a leadership group including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Only cnBeta reported these details; the other documents list four leaders and no further members.
- External advisers David Sacks and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with Rice said to take part in national security discussions. Single-source claim from cnBeta; no other document mentions advisers.
- The task force's planned review of whether existing laws are adequate, whether Congress needs further legislation, and whether current systems handle data breaches, hacking and model “jailbreaks”. Reported only by cnBeta and not corroborated by the other documents.
- A previous White House meeting at which OpenAI's Greg Brockman, Anthropic's Dario Amodei and Nvidia's Jensen Huang agreed to voluntary principles on model monitoring, independent review and board reporting. Single-source account from cnBeta; the documents do not date the meeting or name other participants.
- What Xinhua's report contains, and whether the body is a “super intelligence task force” (超级智能特别工作组) or a “super intelligence working group” (超级智能工作组). The Xinhua document carries a headline only, with no article text or summary, and its headline uses different wording from the Chinese-language reports of the other outlets.
- Why the task force is led by the director of national intelligence alongside trade, defense and personnel officials. The documents state the appointments but give no explanation for the composition.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Trump signs an executive order directing federal departments to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in official communications, public statements, websites, reports and policy documents, to the maximum extent the law allows. [ 1 , 4 , 6 ]
- cnBeta publishes a detailed account of the task force's structure, leadership, membership and planned approach to AI risk oversight. [ 1 ]
- Yicai reports the announcement, citing CCTV News. [ 2 ]
- CLS reports the announcement. [ 3 ]
- Jiemian reports the announcement and the September 29 executive order, citing CCTV News. [ 4 ]
- cnBeta publishes a summary of the announcement. [ 5 ]
- China News Service reports the announcement and the executive order, citing a CCTV reporter. [ 6 ]
- Xinhua publishes a headline on the task force with no article text in the document. [ 7 ]