Jeff Bezos endorses Trump's preference for the term super intelligence

By Splitfeed EditorialLast updated Oct 20, 2026, 18:10 UTC

On October 20, 2026, Jeff Bezos publicly endorsed Donald Trump's preference for replacing the term 'artificial intelligence' with 'super intelligence.' Speaking in remarks covered by Yahoo Finance and Benzinga, Bezos explained his agreement by saying that 'artificial is not a very flattering thing,' drawing a direct comparison to artificial sweeteners as an example of how the word carries negative connotations. No disagreement between Bezos and Trump on the substance of the terminology was reported.

The exchange matters because language shapes public perception of a technology that is already deeply contested. How AI is named influences how people think about its capabilities, its risks, and who controls the narrative around it. Calling it 'super intelligence' emphasizes power and potential, while 'artificial intelligence' carries decades of established meaning, including its limitations and its constructed nature. When figures of Bezos's economic stature align publicly with a sitting or former president on framing, it signals that the branding of this technology has moved beyond academic or industry circles into the terrain of politics and public relations.

None of the three camps had published reactions to this story at the time of writing. The Pro-AI camp would typically welcome a rebranding that highlights capability and ambition over the perceived diminishment in 'artificial,' seeing it as a way to build public enthusiasm and support for continued development. The Anti-AI camp would likely view the shift with suspicion, arguing that swapping in 'super intelligence' obscures risks and serves to awe the public rather than inform it, making critical scrutiny harder. The Middle Ground camp would probably note that terminology matters but is secondary to policy, urging that whatever the technology is called, governance frameworks need to keep pace.

The debate over naming is unlikely to be settled by a single announcement or vote, but watching whether major institutions, regulators, or industry bodies begin adopting 'super intelligence' in formal contexts would indicate whether this framing is gaining real traction beyond two prominent voices.