US President Donald Trump has formally directed federal agencies to replace “artificial intelligence” with “super intelligence” in official documents.

Trump first announced the rebrand at the UN General Assembly on September 22, saying the word “artificial” makes the technology sound fake. “The use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake, it makes it sound fake and it is not fake. It’s actually amazing,” he said.

He followed up with an executive order on September 29 directing the federal government to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in official communications where legally permissible.

The State Department moved first. An email obtained by the Associated Press showed diplomats in the international organizations bureau were ordered to switch to “Super Intelligence” in all remarks, positions and press materials.

The rebrand has drawn criticism from researchers, who note that “superintelligence” already describes a hypothetical AI that surpasses humans across the board, which does not yet exist. California Governor Gavin Newsom responded with an executive order requiring state agencies to keep calling it “artificial intelligence”.