Trump floats new name, AI Force plan

President Donald Trump spent part of Saturday posting about artificial intelligence, opening with a complaint about the technology's name and closing with a promise to build a new government entity around it. The posts appeared on Truth Social and were reported by TechCrunch, which also noted the broader debate over AI safety that has drawn in researchers and executives.

Trump has previously said he is open to "guardrails" for AI while arguing that "a lot of negative forces" are raising concerns. His Saturday posts went further, tying the debate to a list of what he called Democratic hoaxes and announcing that he will create an AI Force modeled on the Space Force he established in his first term.

A poll on rebranding the technology

Trump began by writing on his social network, Truth Social, that "many people think that the words 'Artificial Intelligence' are inaccurate, and very ineloquent, relative to AI, or Artificial Intelligence." He then posted a poll asking followers to choose a new name for the technology, offering three options: Superior Intelligence, Extreme Intelligence, or Supreme Intelligence. According to TechCrunch, the poll was still ongoing at the time of publication.

The post did not say whether Trump favors any of the three options or how a name change would be carried out. It was framed as a question to his followers rather than a policy proposal. The TechCrunch report links to the initial post.

The naming question came first in the sequence of Saturday posts. A couple of hours later, Trump returned to the subject with a second post that shifted from branding to a broader argument about the politics of AI.

Framing safety concerns as hoaxes

In the follow-up, Trump declared that concerns about AI safety are part of a long line of hoaxes "generated by the Radical Left Dumocrats, for purposes of destroying our Country." He claimed that attempts at "the decimation, or destruction, of AI" are one of "many" Democratic hoaxes, listing examples that included "RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, Global Warming, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, Men in Women's Sports, [and] Transgender for Everyone."

Trump then insisted that he "will not stand by and let this happen," adding that the so-called hoax "began with an attack on our Data Centers, until people realized how wealthy and prestigious they were for the Communities in which they were built." In his account, after "the crazed Data Center attack has largely failed," critics are "going straight at AI."

TechCrunch reported that Trump did not offer any evidence to back up his claim that widespread suspicion of AI and data centers is not organic and sincere. The outlet noted that both Republicans and Democrats have taken aim at data centers, and that New York recently became the first state to halt permits for large projects. That detail is covered in TechCrunch's reporting on New York's decision.

The post also echoed comments Trump made at a golf tournament the previous weekend, when he said he is open to "guardrails" but argued, "I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn't be bringing it up."

An AI Force and a coming czar

Later on Saturday, Trump said he will "cherish [the AI industry,] help it, and watch over it, as it grows," while also stating that he is forming an AI Force. He compared the idea to the Space Force he established during his first term.

"To that end, I will be announcing, in the near future, the AI 'Czar' — Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!" he added.

TechCrunch reported that the president did not say what the AI Force and AI czar's duties will entail. Venture capitalist David Sacks stepped down as Trump's AI and crypto czar earlier this year, moving on to co-chair the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The posts are linked in the original coverage, including the follow-up post.

Where the safety debate stands

The AI safety debate intensified after an AI researcher said he was quitting Anthropic over concerns that leading AI companies "earnestly believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade" and are "gambling with our lives." Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei subsequently released a plan to "pace the frontier," which was seemingly endorsed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Critics of the AI industry have suggested that many of these concerns around the technology's supposed existential threat are a distraction from AI's more immediate harms. That criticism runs alongside the safety-focused argument from researchers and executives, and Trump's posts sit on top of both.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, meanwhile, called Trump on-stage during the All-In Summit, which Sacks co-hosts. Huang agreed with the president that the AI backlash is a "hoax" and insisted that "we're not going to let" a slowdown happen.

What the posts did and didn't say

Across the Saturday posts, Trump made a series of claims about the motives behind AI criticism, named three possible replacement names for the technology, and said an AI Force and an AI czar are coming. TechCrunch reported that he did not specify the responsibilities of either the force or the czar, and that he did not provide evidence for his claim that the backlash against AI and data centers is not organic and sincere.

The posts also did not explain how a rebrand would work, whether the poll results would be binding, or what a name change would mean for government use of the term. The poll's three options — Superior Intelligence, Extreme Intelligence, and Supreme Intelligence — were presented as a choice for followers, and the poll remained open at publication time.

Trump's framing of the AI safety debate as a hoax places him alongside Huang's on-stage comment at the All-In Summit. It also contrasts with the researcher's stated reason for leaving Anthropic and with Amodei's "pace the frontier" plan, which drew apparent support from Altman and Musk.

Reactions from the industry

The All-In Summit moment, in which Huang called Trump on-stage and agreed with the president that the AI backlash is a "hoax," was the most direct industry response cited in the reporting. Huang's comment that "we're not going to let" a slowdown happen was another point of alignment with Trump's position.

On the other side of the debate, the researcher's departure from Anthropic and Amodei's plan represent the safety-focused strain of the conversation. TechCrunch noted that critics of the AI industry have suggested many of the concerns around the technology's supposed existential threat are a distraction from AI's more immediate harms.

Trump's Saturday posts did not address that criticism directly. Instead, they returned to the idea that the backlash itself is politically motivated, a claim the reporting says was not backed by evidence.

Why it matters

For people who work in or around AI, the posts matter less for what they change today than for what they signal about how the debate is being framed at the top. A sitting president calling safety concerns a hoax, and Huang agreeing on-stage that the backlash is a "hoax," could affect how safety proposals are received by policymakers and by the public.

The announced AI Force and AI czar add a second thread. Neither has defined duties yet, so it is not clear what either would do, but the creation of a dedicated entity suggests the administration intends to have a formal structure for AI policy. Sacks's earlier departure from the czar role and his move to co-chair the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology shows that the role has already changed hands once this year.

The naming poll is the lightest of the three items, but it is also the most concrete thing Trump asked followers to do: pick between Superior Intelligence, Extreme Intelligence, and Supreme Intelligence. Whether the result is ever acted on is not something the posts address.

For now, the reporting leaves the operational details of the AI Force and the czar's office open, and leaves the rebranding question as a poll rather than a plan. The broader safety debate, meanwhile, continues on its own track, with Anthropic, OpenAI, and Nvidia executives all having weighed in.