Trump rejects global AI governance at UN, instead promoting superintelligence

US President Donald Trump delivered a major speech at the UN General Assembly plenary session on the 22nd of this month, putting forward two key assertions regarding the issue of artificial intelligence (AI). First, he asserted that the United States will never accept any concept that attempts to use globalist mechanisms to control or restrict the development of AI, emphasizing that the United States will uphold technological sovereignty and the freedom to innovate. These remarks come as discussions on AI governance heat up within the international community, with the United Nations and multiple multilateral organizations having successively called in recent years for the establishment of common norms aimed at preventing technological abuse, safeguarding data privacy, and averting the risks of militarization. Trump's stance indicates that the United States is unwilling to be constrained by other countries or international institutions within such frameworks, and also implies that in the future, US AI policymaking will lean more toward domestic regulations and industry self-regulation.

In his speech, Trump specifically pointed out that starting today, all US official documents will no longer use the term "artificial intelligence," but will instead adopt the term "super intelligence" (SI). This move is intended to highlight the breakthrough nature and potential impact of AI technology, and to reinforce the image of the United States leading the global technology race through a semantic upgrade. In the past, the US government mostly used "artificial intelligence" or "machine learning" to describe related research and development in official documents; this recent name change shows that at the policy level, AI is now viewed as a critical asset capable of rewriting industrial structures, national defense security, and even social governance.

This move by the United States is not merely a linguistic adjustment, but is closely intertwined with the AI race between the United States and other major technological powers, particularly China, in recent years. Since the beginning of the 21st century, AI has gradually moved from academic research to commercial applications and military deployments, with both countries continuously increasing investments in sectors such as semiconductors, cloud computing, and big data. Over the past several years, the US government has successively launched multiple funding programs to encourage domestic enterprises to accelerate AI technology research and development while tightening export controls on critical technologies to prevent the outflow of advanced technology. Trump's statement can be seen as a reaffirmation of this competitive landscape, intended to remind the international community that the United States will not abandon its technological advantage because of multilateral agreements.

From the perspective of international governance, the cross-border nature of AI makes it difficult for any single country to independently control its risks and benefits. In recent years, the United Nations established a high-level advisory body on artificial intelligence, focusing on issues such as formulating ethical guidelines, ensuring transparency, and preventing algorithmic bias. The US refusal to accept a "globalist system" could exacerbate international divergences in standard-setting, further creating a multipolarization of technical norms. If the United States continues to use "super intelligence" as its official nomenclature, other countries might also follow suit with similar semantic upgrades, sparking a new round of linguistic and policy competition, which would pose challenges to international cooperation and the formation of consensus.

For the industrial sector, the change in nomenclature may impact capital flows and market expectations. Upon seeing the government officially position AI as "super intelligence," investors may increase their deployments in related fields, particularly high-end computing, deep learning platforms, and automated systems. On the other hand, if the United States continues to resist multilateral governance frameworks on the international stage, businesses will face a more complex compliance environment and potential trade frictions when engaging in cross-border cooperation and technology sharing. In the long run, this policy trajectory may prompt US companies to accelerate internal research and development while potentially deepening the fragmentation of the global AI ecosystem.

In summary, Trump's speech at the UN General Assembly is not only a diplomatic statement, but also a clear signal of the strategic adjustment of the United States in the field of AI. From the stance of rejecting global governance to renaming AI as "super intelligence," both actions demonstrate the intent of the United States to seize control of the direction of future technological development in a more proactive and dominant manner. This move will have a profound impact on international norms, industrial investment, and the US-China technology race. How various countries can strike a balance between maintaining technological innovation and ensuring global security remains a major challenge facing the international community.