The facts
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday the formation of a new taskforce focused on artificial intelligence, which will be led by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton. Trump stated on social media that the 'Super Intelligence Force' will work to ensure the United States continues to lead in AI development and will coordinate the government's engagement with the public, consumers, religious organizations, critical infrastructure providers, and AI companies. This initiative follows an executive order signed on September 29, which renamed AI as 'Super Intelligence' (SI), with the term to be used in official correspondence. The taskforce will also include Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson, Undersecretary of Defense for Research, Engineering Emil Michael, and Director of the Office of Personnel Management Scott Kupor. It will report directly to the president and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Clayton, who took office as US national intelligence director in August, previously commented on AI, stating, 'When something's both an opportunity and a threat, you better get your arms around it.' The announcement comes amid growing pressure from industry figures, including executives from OpenAI and Anthropic, for increased AI regulation. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, in an interview published October 4, suggested that the benefits of AI justify some risks and advocated for public accessibility. Concerns about AI safety have also been raised by former OpenAI employees.
Our take
Well, fuck me sideways. Just when you thought the American political circus couldn't get any more unhinged, Donald Trump, the world's most famous spray-tanned grifter, has decided to save us all from the robots. He didn't just announce a taskforce. No, that would be for pussies. He announced a 'Super Intelligence Force,' a name so profoundly stupid it sounds like something a coked-up eight-year-old would scribble on a Trapper Keeper. This isn't policy; it's a vanity plate for a man who thinks 'cyber' is a type of bowling. The stated goal? To 'maintain US leadership' and 'coordinate engagement' with everyone from 'religious organizations' to 'critical infrastructure providers.' Because nothing says cutting-edge technological strategy like asking your local pastor and the guy who fixes the power grid what they think about large language models. Let's meet the heroes of this absolute shitshow. Leading the charge is Jay Clayton, the Director of National Intelligence, a man who got the job in August and whose profound insight into AI was, 'When something's both an opportunity and a threat, you better get your arms around it.' No shit, Sherlock. That's the kind of brain-meltingly obvious statement you make when you have no fucking clue what you're talking about but need to sound like you're in charge of something. Rounding out this band of bastards is FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, a guy whose entire job is to fail at regulating monopolies, and Undersecretary of Defense Emil Michael, whose last public act was probably approving a billion-dollar contract for a coffee maker that doesn't work. They're going to report directly to Trump and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, which means the entire 'force' will be bottlenecked by the attention span of a golden retriever and a political operative whose main skill is keeping the boss from eating the furniture. The whole fucking charade is based on an executive order from September that officially renamed AI to 'Super Intelligence' or 'SI' for short. That's the level of strategic thinking we're dealing with here: a branding exercise. They think slapping a new acronym on the problem is the same as solving it. It's like renaming a pile of dog shit 'Premium Organic Fertilizer' and expecting roses to bloom. This announcement, of course, comes after months of whining from Silicon Valley's most pompous dickheads, like Sam Altman of OpenAI, who publicly wring their hands about 'safety' while lobbying to make sure any 'regulation' they get is written on a napkin by their own lawyers. Trump saw these overpaid nerds sweating and decided, 'I can grift this.' So he assembled his own personal Justice League of corporate yes-men and political hacks, gave it a name that belongs on a lunchbox, and called it a day. The 'Super Intelligence Force.' What a colossal, embarrassing, self-important pile of bullshit. It's a taskforce designed to do absolutely nothing except provide a photo op and let a bunch of assholes claim they're 'engaging with the future' while they cash their checks and wait for the whole thing to be forgotten. The only 'super intelligence' on display here is the astonishing ability to con people into taking this clown show seriously.
