Elon Musk: No longer using AI, switching to SI, this is better
SpaceX founder Elon Musk posted on October 4, writing just three lines: no longer using artificial intelligence, switching to SI, this is better. The post received about 14,500 likes, 1,806 shares, 3,455 replies, and approximately 988,000 views. SI refers to superintelligence.
This is not a new product launch. On September 29, Trump signed an executive order requiring administrative departments to use superintelligence and SI in official materials, replacing artificial intelligence and AI. After a closed-door meeting with White House tech executives that day, Musk spoke to reporters about employment, initially mentioning the benefits of artificial intelligence, but quickly corrected himself: SI, sorry. Trump thanked him for using the new term. He added: superintelligence.
On October 2, he had already applied the same replacement in testing, stating that superintelligence, originally called artificial intelligence, is undergoing accounting tests. Later on October 4, he wrote that SpaceX is a superintelligence company. Three days prior, he referred to the orbital computing spacecraft as the Star Mind superintelligence spacecraft, with a single solar power exceeding 250 kilowatts.
The post did not provide model versions, parameters, or clients. The change is in terminology. The executive order restricts the designated documents of administrative departments, not company product names. He publicly dropped the old abbreviation and adopted the new one.
In the same round of White House Q&A, he also mentioned that a more likely outcome is an era of abundance, predicting widespread high incomes rather than universal basic income. He did not specify the source of funds, distribution methods, or timelines. He also linked superintelligence and robotics to healthcare, claiming that ordinary people will receive better care in the future than the wealthy do today, including himself.
In market mechanisms, there are no new transactions. The event is driven by the change in administrative terminology, which he publicly followed up on. Attention has shifted from the old term artificial intelligence to superintelligence. Those benefiting are companies that have already framed their narratives around superintelligence, while those under pressure are companies still using artificial intelligence as product names, contract names, and regulatory categories.
Source: Public information
ABAB AI Insight
Musk used the term artificial intelligence when co-founding OpenAI in 2015. He later left to establish xAI, whose product is still called Grok. The executive order on September 29, 2026, changed the official terminology to superintelligence, and he publicly corrected himself next to Trump. The three lines on October 4 reflect his adaptation of that correction to his account's rules.
There has been no acquisition or name change filing. The adjustment is in terminology and the existing hardware narrative. Star Mind is referred to as a superintelligence spacecraft, and SpaceX is described as a superintelligence company. The motivation is that once the term enters administrative documents, continuing to use artificial intelligence falls into the old category. He chooses to align with the executive order rather than industry conventions.
A similar action occurs when the government changes official terminology for climate, energy, or cybersecurity, and companies subsequently adjust their presentations. The difference this time is that the entire category of technology is being renamed. The industry position is not in model releases. Products from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google still refer to artificial intelligence externally. In his company lineup, xAI, Tesla robots, and SpaceX orbital computing are all included under the same new term.
Structurally, this is a transfer of naming rights within pricing power. The old term artificial intelligence has already been occupied by regulatory, copyright, and employment debates. The new term superintelligence does not yet have corresponding legal provisions. The reason this occurs is that the executive order first changed the official materials, and he then linked his company and spacecraft to it. Once the name is changed, the same batch of models and satellites enters a different narrative, with no change in capability itself within those three lines.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
- Officially change the term first, then companies adjust their self-introduction
- The old name carries controversy, while the new name lacks legal provisions
- A change in abbreviation shifts the same batch of machines to a different category.