IMF committee sidesteps US "super intelligence" push and settles on "advanced intelligence technologies"
What happened? At the IMF/World Bank meetings in Bangkok on 15 October 2026, US Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Erin Browne told Reuters that Washington was negotiating with other IMF shareholders to use "super intelligence" (SI) instead of "artificial intelligence" in the statement of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the IMF's steering committee. Two days later, the committee settled on neither term.
Outcome (17 October): The chair's statement issued by IMFC chair and Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan never says "artificial intelligence" or "super intelligence". Instead it refers to "advanced intelligence technologies" throughout: their rapid progress "have been boosting investment and trade, and could lift productivity"; uncertainty about their impact, together with rising sovereign bond yields, "could amplify macro-financial vulnerabilities"; members back "harnessing advanced intelligence technologies and digitalization to raise productivity while addressing associated risks"; and the IMF itself is encouraged towards "prudent internal adoption" of them. The section headed "IMFC members agreed on the following text" carries this wording, and Aljadaan told Reuters that all members agreed to the statement's language. Six months earlier, the committee's April 2026 chair's statement still pledged to strengthen surveillance of systemic risks "stemming from artificial intelligence".
Background: President Donald Trump's September executive order directs US federal agencies to say "super intelligence" rather than "artificial intelligence"; it defines SI as the same technology already covered by the statutory AI definition, so the change is one of label, not a claim that superintelligence exists. Browne said the US, which holds the G20 presidency, wanted the term adopted internationally because it "more appropriately encapsulates the technology at hand". A source told Reuters before the meeting that US officials had suggested they would insist on the new language, and that one fallback was to drop both terms in favour of something like "new technology", which is roughly what happened.
Spoken versus written: At the closing press conference, Aljadaan and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva both still spoke of "AI", with Georgieva warning that lower-income countries outside the AI value chain fear falling behind. The same session was overshadowed by a walkout by nearly half of delegates during remarks by Russia's finance minister.
Why it matters: The US did not get its word into the IMF's text, but it did get "artificial intelligence" taken out. A negotiated, undefined phrase now sits in a document finance ministries worldwide treat as the reference language, and the naming split between Washington and most other governments is likely to resurface in G20 texts while the US holds the presidency.
Sources: IMFC chair's statement, 17 Oct 2026 (PDF via Japan's Ministry of Finance); Reuters via CNBC (17 Oct 2026); Reuters via Business Recorder; IMF IMFC press briefing; Reuters via CNA (15 Oct 2026); Reuters via Investing.com.
