Elon Musk is once again changing the name of his artificial intelligence division. The SpaceXAI section will now be called SpaceXSI, with the abbreviation SI standing for superintelligence. Musk is thus adopting the term that President Donald Trump introduced into the official terminology of the U.S. government. This is not a renaming of the entire space company SpaceX, as some newspaper headlines might suggest, but only of the part dedicated to artificial intelligence.
The head of SpaceX announced the change on Sunday on his social network X. One user asked him whether he would rename the division SpaceXSI, and Musk briefly replied that they would make the change. In another post, he added the slogan that they were done with the term AI because the abbreviation SI is better. Musk did not specify when the new name would officially come into use.
Trump wants superintelligence instead of artificial intelligence
The decision came less than a week after Trump signed an executive order on September 29 titled Launching the Era of Superintelligence. Under the order, federal government agencies are to use the terms superintelligence and SI instead of artificial intelligence and AI. The new terminology applies to official statements, government websites, reports, and policy documents, where permitted by existing legislation. The White House claims that the new name better reflects the technology’s actual capabilities.
However, the change does not apply to everything. Older regulations, contracts, grants, and other documents will remain in their original wording, while references in laws are also exempt until Congress itself amends them. In addition, the president’s science and technology adviser is to propose legislation within 60 days that will officially define the term superintelligence. At the same time, technology company executives signed their own superintelligence agreement at the White House.
Musk has been talking about superintelligence for more than a decade
For Musk, this is not a new topic. He has long argued that the most advanced technologies had surpassed the boundaries of ordinary artificial intelligence even before chatbots became widespread among the public. He also supported the publication of philosopher Nick Bostrom’s 2014 book Superintelligence, which warned about systems getting out of control. Musk said at the time that such technology could be more dangerous than nuclear weapons.
The renaming also highlights Musk’s close relationship with the Trump administration. In 2025, he served as a special adviser to the president, and the Grok chatbot from his company xAI secured contracts to work for government agencies.
A second new name within a few months
The SpaceXAI division has only existed since July. It was created after SpaceX acquired Musk’s company xAI in a transaction worth more than one trillion dollars and the two companies merged. The new name SpaceXSI is therefore already the second major identity change in less than a year.
Musk founded xAI in 2023 as an independent startup. In March 2025, the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, also became part of it.
Sources: investing.com and finance.yahoo.com
