Musk says SpaceX will rename AI division from SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI
In short
Elon Musk, chief executive of the US space company SpaceX, said on October 4 that the company's AI division will be renamed from “SpaceXAI” to “SpaceXSI”. The “SI” stands for Super Intelligence, a term US President Donald Trump has pushed as a replacement for “AI”, including in an executive order covering federal documents. Musk disclosed no date or procedure for the change, and Japanese outlets reported that the unit's X account had not yet been renamed.
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Elon Musk, chief executive of the US space company SpaceX, said on October 4 that the company's artificial intelligence division will be renamed from “SpaceXAI” to “SpaceXSI”, according to the Japanese outlets that covered his posts on X. Musk made the statement in a reply to a user who asked whether the unit would be renamed, answering “Yes, we will make that change”, and he also posted “No more AI SI It's better”, the tech outlets reported. Jiji Press, Nikkei, Sankei Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun all said no timing or concrete procedure for the change had been disclosed. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]
The move follows US President Donald Trump's push to replace “AI” with “SI”, short for Super Intelligence. Trump proposed the term at the UN General Assembly, saying that “artificial” made intelligence sound fake, Nikkei and Asahi reported; ITmedia AI+ dated the speech to September 22. Nikkei, Asahi and ITmedia AI+ reported that Trump signed an executive order in late September directing federal agencies to use “SI” instead of “AI” in official documents, websites and reports. [ 3 , 6 , 8 ]
The division was itself recently renamed. Its predecessor, the AI company xAI, was founded by Musk in 2023 and acquired the social media platform X in 2025, according to ITmedia AI+ and Asahi. SpaceX brought xAI, including X, under its control in February 2026, and the unit's formal name was changed to SpaceXAI on July 6, ITmedia AI+ reported; Nikkei and Asahi also said the SpaceXAI name dates from July. ASCII.jp noted that the unit's main product is the multimodal generative AI “Grok”, and ITmedia AI+ said a change to SpaceXSI would be the second renaming counted from xAI. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]
None of the outlets reported a date for the change. Nikkei, Sankei and Asahi said the timing was undecided, and ITmedia AI+ said that as of 13:30 on October 5 the official X account for SpaceXAI had not been renamed. ASCII.jp said Musk gave no reason for the decision but that the circumstances suggested it reflected Trump's preference. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
Coverage differed in how directly it tied the renaming to politics. Asahi reported that US media attributed the move to Musk's close relationship with the Trump administration, while Sankei framed it as Musk falling into step with Trump's effort to spread the “SI” name and ASCII.jp said the change appeared to answer Trump's wishes. [ 4 , 7 , 8 ]
Why it matters
The renaming ties a major private AI developer's branding to a US presidential push to replace the term “AI” with “SI” in official use, a shift whose practical effects are still unclear. For readers, it is largely a signal that Musk, whose companies are prominent in AI, satellites and social media, is aligning his public language with the Trump administration. The documents give no indication of any change to the unit's products or operations.
Key facts
- Musk said on X on October 4 that SpaceX's AI division will be renamed from “SpaceXAI” to “SpaceXSI”. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]
- Musk replied “Yes, we will make that change” to a user asking about the renaming, and posted that it should not be called AI but SI. [ 4 , 6 , 7 ]
- He gave no date or concrete procedure for the change. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
- “SI” stands for Super Intelligence, a term US President Donald Trump has promoted in place of “AI”. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]
- Trump signed an executive order in late September directing federal agencies to use “SI” rather than “AI” in official documents, websites and reports. [ 6 , 8 ]
- The unit's predecessor, xAI, was founded by Musk in 2023 and was later brought under SpaceX and renamed SpaceXAI in July. [ 3 , 6 , 8 ]
- As of 13:30 on October 5, the SpaceXAI account on X had not been renamed, ITmedia AI+ reported. [ 6 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Musk said on X on October 4 that SpaceX's AI division will be renamed from “SpaceXAI” to “SpaceXSI”. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]
- Musk did not disclose the timing or details of the change. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
- The announcement follows US President Donald Trump's promotion of “SI”, meaning Super Intelligence, in place of “AI”. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 8 ]
- Trump signed an executive order in late September directing federal agencies to use “SI” instead of “AI” in official documents. [ 6 , 8 ]
- The AI division's predecessor is xAI, founded by Musk in 2023 and renamed SpaceXAI in July after being brought under SpaceX. [ 3 , 6 , 8 ]
Still unclear
- When the renaming will take effect. Every document says the timing was not disclosed or is undecided; no date appears.
- Whether the renaming is a direct response to Trump's executive order. Outlets infer the link using “appears to be” language, and ASCII.jp says Musk himself gave no reason in the posts quoted.
- Whether SpaceX has formally filed or announced the change beyond Musk's X replies. Reporting rests on Musk's posts, and one tech outlet observed the official X account name was unchanged as of October 5 afternoon.
- The exact date of Trump's UN General Assembly remarks on the term. ITmedia AI+ dates the speech to September 22, while Nikkei and Asahi say only “September”.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Jiji Press becomes the first of the documents to report Musk's plan to rename the AI division to “SpaceXSI”, noting no timing was disclosed (October 5). [ 1 ]
- Yahoo! News Japan carries a Reuters-sourced summary linking the change to Trump's promotion of “SI” (October 5). [ 2 ]
- The official X account for SpaceXAI has still not been renamed, according to ITmedia AI+ (October 5). [ 6 ]
- Asahi Shimbun reports the announcement, adding that US media attributed it to Musk's close relationship with the Trump administration (October 5). [ 8 ]