Musk urges calling artificial intelligence “superintelligence”
In short
Elon Musk called for artificial intelligence to be called “superintelligence”, writing on the social network X: “No more AI. Superintelligence. That’s better”, according to Vedomosti. Vedomosti linked the remarks to a US executive order signed at the end of September that replaces the term “artificial intelligence” with “superintelligence” in the executive branch. RIA Novosti, TASS, Vedomosti and RBC all reported the call on 4 October.
Why it matters
The remarks come after the US executive branch moved to use “superintelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence” in its own terminology, as reported by Vedomosti, so the naming question now touches official US usage as well as private debate. Musk’s prominence gives the wording wider circulation, but the documents describe no decision or measure beyond the posts and the reported US order.
Key facts
- Musk called for artificial intelligence to be called “superintelligence”, according to RIA Novosti, TASS, Vedomosti and RBC. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Vedomosti quoted a post it said Musk wrote on X: “No more AI. Superintelligence. That’s better.” [ 3 ]
- In another post, Vedomosti reported, Musk wrote that “SpaceX is a company working in the field of superintelligence”. [ 3 ]
- At the end of September, US President Donald Trump signed an order replacing the term “artificial intelligence” (AI) with “superintelligence” (SI) in the executive branch, Vedomosti reported. [ 3 ]
- On 3 October, The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House created a working group to be headed by US Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, Vedomosti wrote. [ 3 ]
- TASS, citing Musk, said the term would be better; RBC framed the call as Musk urging that AI not be called artificial. [ 2 , 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether the US executive order and the reported White House working group are connected to Musk’s posts. Vedomosti placed the order and Musk’s remarks in the same article, but no document states a link between them.
- Details of the executive order replacing “artificial intelligence” with “superintelligence” in the US executive branch. Only one document, Vedomosti, mentions the order; no other outlet in the set reports it.
- The White House working group, its head and its 120-day task. Single-source: Vedomosti attributes the report to The Wall Street Journal; no other document mentions it.
- When and where Musk made the posts. The documents give the outlets’ publication times but not the time or place of the posts.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- RIA Novosti publishes a headline reporting that Musk called for AI to be called superintelligence. [ 1 ]
- TASS publishes a short summary saying the term would be better, and Vedomosti publishes an article quoting Musk’s posts on X. [ 2 , 3 ]
- RBC reports Musk’s call, framing it as urging that AI not be called artificial. [ 4 ]