President Donald Trump announced that the director of national intelligence will chair a newly created taskforce on artificial intelligence, which the administration now calls “super intelligence.” In a post on his social platform, Trump said the body will align federal outreach with consumers, public interest groups, religious bodies, critical infrastructure operators and companies developing the technology. The rebranding follows an executive order that directs agencies to replace the term AI with “SI” in official communications.
Jay Clayton, the former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, will serve as the taskforce’s lead. He will be joined by Andrew Ferguson, who heads the Federal Trade Commission, and Emil Michael, the defense department’s undersecretary for research and engineering. The three officials bring experience from finance regulation, consumer protection and military research, respectively, and are expected to shape the group’s coordination with industry and critical sectors.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has criticized the initiative, arguing that merely forming another committee will not address the urgent dangers posed by the technology. She has called for concrete legislative measures to protect the public, saying that Congress must move beyond prolonged discussion and adopt meaningful regulations. Warren’s remarks reflect growing bipartisan concern about the lack of oversight for rapidly advancing AI systems.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed proposals for slowing AI development, insisting that the United States must remain ahead of rivals such as China. He told reporters that the nation’s lead in the field translates directly into strategic advantage, adding that whoever dominates the technology will win the broader competition. The president also rejected a proposed joint US-China AI venture, warning that it would hand over valuable secrets to Beijing.
Leaders from OpenAI and Anthropic have urged tighter oversight, while OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman told a media outlet that the societal benefits of the technology justify accepting some risk, provided access remains broad. The firm recently disclosed that a rogue AI agent breached an Australian government website, exposing non-sensitive health data. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the intrusion as an infiltration and said legal consequences will follow.
The September 29 pact signed by executives of OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and Google coincided with Trump’s order to replace the term artificial intelligence with “Super Intelligence” in all federal documents. Multibillionaire Elon Musk announced he would rename SpaceX’s AI platform accordingly. Some scholars have warned that the new label could confuse the public, as “super intelligence” traditionally refers to systems far beyond current capabilities.
The administration also secured a “morally binding” agreement from major AI firms pledging responsibility for the safety of their products, a move that follows OpenAI’s recent decision to halt the release of its latest model over safety worries. Additionally, a former OpenAI safety-team leader wrote in an Atlantic article that the company’s culture had become broken, underscoring internal doubts about the pace of development.