President Donald Trump has created the "Super Intelligence Force," a new federal taskforce focused on artificial intelligence policy led by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton. The taskforce will work to ensure the US leads in AI development and will coordinate federal engagement with consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, infrastructure providers, and AI companies.
The announcement follows Trump's executive order on 29 September renaming artificial intelligence as "Super Intelligence," or SI. The order instructs all US government departments and agencies to use the new terminology in official correspondence, websites and reports. Trump previously stated that the word "artificial" made the technology sound "fake."
Clayton, who took office as national intelligence director in August, will lead the taskforce with support from Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael, and Director of the Office of Personnel Management Scott Kupor. The taskforce reports directly to the president and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Clayton previously served as US attorney for the Southern District of New York and has said that when something presents both opportunity and threat, "you better get your arms around it." His appointment reflects Trump's approach to AI oversight.
The taskforce creation comes as Trump has dismissed calls for stronger AI regulation. In a 29 September pact, executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and Google signed what Trump called a "morally binding" agreement on AI safety, followed by an announcement that a board to oversee AI safety would be established.
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman stated in an 4 October interview with Politico that the benefits of AI justify accepting some risks and that the technology should remain accessible to the public. "The world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency," Altman said.
Some experts have questioned the rebranding logic, arguing that "super intelligence" could cause confusion by referring to more advanced systems. Billionaire Elon Musk has already adopted the terminology, announcing plans to rename his company's AI platform SpaceXSI.