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As of October 12, 2026, the clearest named AI CEO users of “superintelligence” are Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and xAI’s Elon Musk were also reported using “super intelligence” or “SI” at a White House event on October 1, 2026, but that shows what they said at that event—not necessarily their usual terminology. The available reporting does not establish a definitive list of CEOs who reject or avoid the term.
Which AI CEOs have clearly used “superintelligence”?
| CEO | Documented wording or behavior | Source and date | Context and evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO | Meta said he shared a vision to bring “personal superintelligence to everyone.” | Meta newsroom, July 30, 2025 | Clear company-documented use associated with Zuckerberg’s vision; the sentence is Meta’s, not a direct quotation from him. Meta returned to the term in its August 2026 essay, “The Future is for Everyone.” |
| Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO | “We are here to build AGI and superintelligence and all the things that come beyond that.” | Bloomberg interview, 2025 | Direct, attributable interview statement. Altman also described his own practical framing of superintelligence as a system that could rapidly increase the rate of scientific discovery. |
| Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO | Reportedly used “super intelligence” and “SI,” correcting himself after saying “AI.” | Axios, October 1, 2026 | Reported use at a White House event; this does not establish a settled preference across other settings. |
| Elon Musk, xAI CEO | Reportedly caught himself saying “AI” and pivoted to “SI.” | Axios, October 1, 2026 | Event-specific reported behavior, not evidence of a durable change in his vocabulary. |
The evidence differs in strength and kind: a company announcement, a CEO’s direct interview, and reporting about what leaders said at one event are not interchangeable. OpenAI’s public use of the term also extends beyond Altman’s interview. Its 2023 governance post, co-authored by Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever, says that superintelligence would require special treatment and coordination; that is an institutional position by named authors, not a fresh personal statement from Altman. OpenAI, “Governance of superintelligence”. OpenAI’s April 2026 principles statement likewise discusses superintelligence, broad access, and risks from concentrated control. OpenAI, “Our principles”.
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Which CEOs don’t use the term?
The available reporting does not support a definitive named list of CEOs who do not say “superintelligence,” or who reject the term. Axios reported that some executives at the October 2026 White House event continued to use “AI,” but the cited passage did not identify them. A missing quote or lack of documented use is not proof that a CEO avoids or opposes the word.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Axios also reported that company representatives had mixed expectations about whether the terminology shift would extend beyond dealings with the president and federal government. The event’s accord was signed by leaders from Google, Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI, xAI, and Nvidia, but signing an accord titled “White House Accord on Super Intelligence” does not establish that every CEO personally prefers “SI.”
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What do they mean by “superintelligence”?
The term does not have one shared definition in these sources. The speakers use it to discuss different ideas, so their statements should not be collapsed into a single industry-wide meaning.
- Scientific discovery: In his Bloomberg interview, Altman said the key question for him was whether a system could rapidly increase the rate of scientific discovery on Earth. That is his framing, not a universal definition.
- Personal access and agency: Meta’s “personal superintelligence” language centers on making powerful tools available to people. Zuckerberg and Meta have also argued for people retaining control, while raising concerns such as job displacement, misuse, and surveillance. Those are the company’s stated views.
- Governance and coordination: OpenAI’s 2023 post treats superintelligence as a future capability level that warrants special treatment, coordination, and public oversight.
- A proposed label for AI: Axios’s October 2026 coverage describes “super intelligence” and “SI” as terminology used at a political event, rather than demonstrating that the label has been adopted throughout the AI industry.
What the terminology does—and doesn’t—tell you
“Superintelligence” can signal a claim about capabilities, a vision for how people might use advanced systems, a governance concern, or simply a label being promoted in a particular setting. A CEO’s use of the word does not by itself establish that the technology exists or that the speaker uses the same definition as another CEO.
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In short, Zuckerberg and Altman are clear, well-documented examples; Huang and Musk are reported event-specific examples. The available evidence does not identify a reliable roster of named non-users.
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What did the public prefer: “AI” or “super intelligence”?
Axios reported that a YouGov poll conducted during the week of its October 1, 2026 article found 53% preferred “artificial intelligence” and 9% preferred “super intelligence.” These figures are Axios’s report of that poll, not an industry-wide measure of CEO language or proof of what any individual CEO prefers.
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