Can ‘super intelligence’ and a non-binding safety pact solve AI’s image problem?
The U.S. government has officially rebranded 'artificial intelligence' as 'super intelligence' following a meeting between President Trump and industry leaders. The move is accompanied by a non-binding safety pact that critics argue is more of a public relations effort than a substantive regulatory framework.
Why it matters
This shift in terminology and policy signals a potential change in how the U.S. government approaches AI regulation and public perception of the technology.
President Donald Trump hosted many of the biggest names in artificial intelligence this week — in part to announce that the U.S. government isn’t calling it artificial intelligence anymore. Now it’s super intelligence.
On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast , Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and I discussed the motivation behind the meeting and what effect it might have on the AI industry. We were all pretty skeptical that the “Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities” that the executives signed will amount to much, especially since — as Sean noted — it’s “deeply non-binding,” at least from a legal prospective. (Instead, Trump said he considers it “morally binding.”)
Also covering this story
4 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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