NEW YORK (AP) — The State Department is ordering diplomats in its international organizations bureau to use the term “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence” in all communications following President Donald Trump’s attempt to rebrand the technology in his address to the U.N. General Assembly this week.
“Following the president's remarks at the GA today, please change all references of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ to ‘Super Intelligence’ in our documents and positions. We will be using ‘SI’ in all remarks, positions and press elements moving forward,” said an email sent Tuesday to employees by Michael Drager, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.
That bureau is in charge of U.S. diplomatic missions to all U.N. and multilateral agencies around the world. The email, titled “Change in Nomenclature AI to SI,” was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if other State Department bureaus had or would follow suit.
On Tuesday, Trump told the U.N. General Assembly that he would “officially” change the name of AI, saying the existing name makes the technology seem “fake” and that U.S. government documents would from that point forward use “super intelligence.”
“The use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake, it makes it sound fake and it is not fake. It’s actually amazing,” Trump said.
The president said at the U.N. that “from the point forward” U.S. government documents “will be changed to use the much more accurate term super as opposed to artificial. So it’s super intelligence.”
Drager's email was sent shortly after Trump's speech, but it wasn't clear on Wednesday whether similar orders had been sent at other agencies. Such an order would likely mean adjusting the name of the “AI Force” that Trump announced this weekend to the “SI Force.”
On Wednesday, U.S. representatives used the SI term at a U.N. Security Council meeting about AI, where tech executives urged the United Nations' most powerful body to rein in the developing technology.
AI's rapid ascent has spurred dire warnings from AI company CEOs, lawmakers and others about the technology outpacing humans' ability to control it and calls for global guardrails.
Trump has rejected efforts to slow the AI development race through greater government oversight, saying he does not want to hinder industry and that the U.S. needs to ensure an edge over China.
Trump claimed on social media Monday that the U.S. is leading over China on AI and that he was “not going to stifle Growth, of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution, or the Internet, itself.”
AI is expected to be a key topic when Trump welcomes Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Washington for a visit starting Wednesday.
Associated Press writers Josh Boak in Washington and Farnoush Amiri and Seth Borenstein at the United Nations contributed to this report.
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, speaks remotely during a Security Council meeting on artificial intelligence at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, listens during a Security Council meeting on artificial intelligence at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
President Donald Trump speaks to the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, at the UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Southwestern Mexico braced for coastal flooding and mudslides Wednesday after Polo, a powerful Pacific cyclone, became a major hurricane. Forecasters also warned that Hawaii could face another onslaught of harsh weather later in the week.
Hurricane Polo, an “extremely dangerous” storm, is expected to skirt Mexico’s Guerrero state, submerging coastal areas with 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Guerrero has been repeatedly pummeled by hurricanes in recent years.
Polo, which was swirling a couple of hundred miles off the coast Wednesday afternoon, was not expected to make landfall, meteorologists and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said. Rain and strong winds had already started to pummel the coast, with waves crashing onto the normally pristine beaches.
Tropical storm conditions including torrential rain and extraordinary wind were also expected along the Pacific coast of Michoacan and Colima states through Thursday.
At its peak, Polo was a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph (290 kph). It was a Category 4 by Wednesday afternoon, but still packing sustained winds of up to 145 mph (230 kph).
“Fluctuations in intensity are expected, but Polo is expected to remain a very powerful major hurricane during the next few days,” the hurricane center said.
Concepción López Villegas was busily bolstering her seaside restaurant in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, against the expected onslaught of rain. Strong waves were already hitting some beaches and López Villegas said she feared the storm could destroy the small business she worked decades to build.
“We’re worried and trying to protect our businesses,” López Villegas said. “And of course, we’re sad because it’s our heritage, our legacy that from one moment to another could be destroyed.”
The hurricane center warned that Polo's deluge could cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides, in particular in Guerrero.
The region most under threat from the hurricane is rural and mountainous, scattered with a few small tourist towns and ports. Much of the area is marked by poverty and residents routinely complain authorities abandon them to fend for themselves during natural disasters.
Mexico’s government has called for evacuations in some areas and set up shelters for those affected. Thousands of military and Red Cross personnel have been deployed to the region as a preventative measure.
Philip Klotzbach, research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, attributed Polo's rapid intensification to the weather phenomenon known as El Nino, which has fueled crippling droughts in Mexico and Central America and floods elsewhere.
In the Pacific, it has resulted in warmer waters and wind patterns that act as fodder for hurricanes, he said.
“There are all the ingredients that hurricanes need to get really strong really fast,” Klotzbach said.
The National Weather Service said Wednesday afternoon that Tropical Storm Nolo was forming 310 miles (500 kilometers) south-southwest of Big Island in Hawaii with sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph).
The weather service warned it become a hurricane by Thursday.
The hurricane center advised the island chain to monitor the system, which was projected to drop 15 to 20 inches (38 to 51 centimeters) of rain on Big Island, raising the possibility of flooding and mudslides.
The center of the cyclone was expected to close in on the islands by Friday or Saturday.
While wind and rain were mainly expected on Maui and Big Island, Kauai’s electric cooperative urged residents to prepare for “the possibility of prolonged power outages,” and to store non-perishable food and potable water.
Over 100 Kauai households remain without power from Hurricane Lowell, which passed west of the island on Sept. 7.
Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews would return to at-risk areas to help residents prepare for the coming storm.
Hurricane Odalys, also in the Pacific, strengthened on Wednesday, carrying maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph). It churned about 1,265 miles (2,040 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and was not at risk of making landfall, according to the hurricane center.
An advisory said Odalys could increase in strength over the next couple of days but would likely weaken by the end of the week.
Brooks reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporter Gabriela Aoun in San Diego contributed.
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Odalys in the Pacific Ocean, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo strengthening in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo intensifying in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
