Media Naming: Fox News Ignores Trump's 'Super Intelligence' Mandate

The term artificial intelligence remains standard in American journalism, even as President Donald Trump pushes for a specific rebrand. On Wednesday, a report from Media Matters for America revealed that Fox News, Newsmax, and Breitbart have resisted the White House demand to replace the term AI with super intelligence. This resistance comes one day after the president announced he would ban the use of AI, calling it a very bad and inaccurate name.

The administration has not clarified the legal or practical scope of this ban. It is unclear what consequences face individuals who exercise their First Amendment rights to use the common term. The push for the new label, abbreviated as SI, has accelerated since September. Trump declared on Truth Social that the White House would consider anyone using AI instead of super intelligence to be the enemy. He also claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping prefers the term SI, a preference he said aligns with almost everyone else.

In late September, Trump signed an executive order to support the rebranding effort. This move added formal weight to a linguistic shift that complicates existing scientific terminology. The phrase super intelligence has long described a hypothetical form of intelligence that surpasses human capability. The executive order seeks to apply this term to the current state of machine learning, regardless of technical definitions.

Fox News has shown the most visible resistance to the change. According to the Media Matters report, the network’s website still links articles to its Understanding Artificial Intelligence section. On-air usage has remained consistent with previous standards. Less than five minutes after the report was published, host Harris Faulkner used the term AI to introduce a segment. The segment discussed a controversy over Stanford University posting an AI-generated image of a school marching band.

Other prominent hosts continue to use the traditional acronym. Bret Baier, who golfed with the president last month, runs regular segments on AI. Laura Ingraham also uses the term in her broadcasts. The report noted that these personalities have not altered their vocabulary to match the executive preference.

A smaller group within the conservative media sphere has adopted the new language. Jesse Watters has used the term super intelligence during his on-air appearances. Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and former chair of the Republican National Committee, has also utilized the new term in her professional capacity.

The divergence in terminology is now visible across the primary media outlets that typically support the administration's agenda. Fox News, Newsmax, and Breitbart maintain their current usage patterns. The White House has not announced further enforcement mechanisms beyond the initial executive order and social media declarations.

The situation illustrates a friction between presidential preference and established media habits. The network’s digital and broadcast platforms continue to operate under the standard term. No formal penalty has been levied against the outlets for retaining their current vocabulary.