America’s largest technology companies are expected to borrow a record $420 billion in 2027 to finance the artificial intelligence boom as Wall Street investors increasingly demand higher returns to absorb the flood of debt.
Page F3From§Eachthe matinee edition — 22 September 2026
Trump renames AI 'superintelligence,' still can't rename the 73 percent who don't trust it.
As it ran on the front
They're calling it "superintelligence" now. Not artificial. Super. At the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, President Trump told the assembled body that the technology needs no new guardrails, no globalist control scheme, no oversight body — just a fresh coat of paint on the folder. Total rejection of any construct built to control it. Changing the name fixes the concern, he said, and honestly, why wouldn't it? A word does a lot of work. Ask the Department of Defense. Ask the Department of War.
The polling on this is — hold on. The Reuters/Ipsos number that came out the same day he was at the podium has 73 percent of the country saying the AI companies have not done enough to stop this thing from causing serious harm. That's not a fringe number. That's — okay, that's most of the country. I was going to call it a rounding error. It is not a rounding error.…
…(cont) Go back further and it gets worse for the argument, not better. On September 14, the president posted that his own intellect was a sufficient regulatory framework, on its own, for artificial intelligence. Two days later, the Washington Examiner ran a piece asking a fair question about that: if the one guardrail is a single man, who turns it back on once he's gone? The same week, a separate poll found 63 percent of Americans think the technology could eventually destroy humanity — not fail to create enough jobs, destroy it. The day after that, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he would sign a statewide moratorium on data centers if one reached his desk. He is not the only official asking for a pause.
So the case that a pause is a fringe ask — I have to walk that back too. Here's where the balance actually sits. Senate Democrats say the administration still hasn't closed the export loopholes China is using to build its own version of this. And the companies the president is telling the country not to worry about are expected to borrow a record $420 billion in 2027 to build more of it, betting the debt against precisely the outcome 73 percent of the country already fears. You can rename the fear. You cannot rename the loan.
“They didn't fix the danger, they filed a change-of-name request. Seventy-three percent of us don't buy the rename, the loopholes to China are still open, and the outfits building this thing are $420 billion further into debt betting it works out. That's not a guardrail, that's a mortgage on our future with our name nowhere on the deed.”
“Look, changing the name isn't nothing — precision matters, "superintelligence" properly scopes the policy conversation, and frankly the previous nomenclature was doing real damage to public — did I say public trust? Seventy-three percent of the public doesn't— okay, that's not the stat I wanted to lead with. The point is the government retains, quote, tremendous regulatory power, they just choose not to use it, which is — huh. Yeah. That's the whole plan.”
Earlier in this story
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright says a 30-minute military operation unlocked 65 billion Venezuelan barrels for American buyers, who marked the windfall by paying a record $4.15 a gallon over Labor Day. By Chip · the breakfast edition, 20 September 2026
The receipts
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Thursday he would "absolutely sign" a statewide data center moratorium if brought to his desk, joining other governors and elected officials calling for a freeze on developing new data centers. "If the statewide moratorium bill lands on your desk in 2027, would you sign it?" Punchbowl News's Mikenzie…
Nearly three-quarters of Americans are worried that artificial intelligence companies have not done enough to prevent the technology from causing serious harm, according to a new survey released Tuesday. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found 73 percent of respondents did not agree that the technology companies have implemented safeguards to…
A group of Senate Democrats on Tuesday said President Trump is failing to block China from accessing sensitive American technology to accelerate its development of artificial intelligence, ahead of the Chinese leader's state visit to Washington this week. Trump must close loopholes that China has used to subvert U.S. export bans on…
President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that artificial intelligence will be renamed “super intelligence” in all U.S. documents.
· 63 percent believe AI could destroy humanity: Survey from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· 'Madness and Puerility': Critics Stunned as Trump Claims His 'High IQ' Enough to Regulate AI from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Trump says AI needs no new guardrails. Then who gets to turn it back on? from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Trump admin's list of US-designated 'foreign terrorist' groups in Latin America expands to 21 from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Top Trump official reveals how 30-minute military op unlocked Venezuela oil windfall for US buyers from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Ex-Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores seeks release from NYC jail, citing heart ailment from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· New York City protest once again demands release of Maduro and Flores from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Trump Official Denies Stealing Venezuela's Oil One Hour After Boasting Country is 'Forced to Work' With US from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· 'Mobster Language': Trump Says Venezuelan Oil Will Replenish US Reserves from the morgue, 30 Aug 2026
· 'Yet Another Trump Grift': Congress Called to Stop US Takeover of Venezuelan Oil Fields from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· The Biggest Oil Deal or Theft at Gunpoint? U.S. Claims Majority Control of Venezuela's Oil Reserves from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Tehran threatens attacks after U.S. strikes Iranian tankers from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· US forces take out 3 Iranian oil tankers in retaliation from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· Oil prices up as Iran says it will expand control over Strait of Hormuz from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Iran live updates: Trump speaks to MBS, says everything will 'work out fine' from the morgue, 13 Sep 2026
· Iran threatens retaliation against U.S. tanker strikes from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· U.S. gas prices hit record high for Labor Day from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· Ship tracking websites, including Kpler, MarineTraffic, and TankerTrackers, show that three Iranian oil tankers, including two from the National Iranian Tanker Company, have escaped the blockade that from the morgue, 17 Jun 2026
· Iranian state media reports that the United States Navy attempted to capture an Iranian oil tanker. The oil tanker was boarded, commandeered and then returned by Iranian NEDSA marines in a helicopter from the morgue, 3 Nov 2021
· US strikes Iranian rocket launchers in first attack since late July from the morgue, 30 Aug 2026
· An Iranian Navy commander claims on state television that the Iranian Navy forced a U.S. submarine to surface as it transited the Strait of Hormuz and that the submarine violated Iranian territorial w from the morgue, 20 Apr 2023
· Trump Threatens to Rename Strait of Hormuz for Himself as War Pushes Diesel Prices Toward Record High from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Trump floats renaming Strait of Hormuz after himself from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· U.S. strikes targets in Iran near Strait of Hormuz as Iran says it is retaliating from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Trump Hammered Over Iran War That Drove Gas Prices Above $4 Per Gallon Every Day in August for First Time Ever from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· 'Trump Did It!': At $5.85 a Gallon, Diesel Price Hits All-Time High in US Thanks to War on Iran from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Price of diesel in U.S. hits record as Vance downplays Iran war impact from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Diesel prices hit record high as wars disrupt supply from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Trump vows response to Iran's retaliatory strikes: 'We're going to hit them hard' from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Trump threatens Iran against retaliation for latest U.S. strikes from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Live updates: US, Iran ramp up strikes; incumbents hold on in Massachusetts from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Trump calls Iran conflict "small potatoes" from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· Labor Day gas prices are highest ever for holiday from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· How ‘Hypermilers’ Are Trying to Beat High Gas Prices from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· Fuel prices at record Labor Day high in US thanks to Iran War and refinery issues from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· Oil Prices Rise Slightly After U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· USS Lincoln heads home as war with Iran escalates from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· Lawler disagrees with Trump on Iran war: 'It is certainly not small potatoes' from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· OPEC Plus to Keep Oil Production Steady from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· Iran War Has Cost the Average American More Than $1,200 Over Six Months, Economist Estimates from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Trump says military conflict in Iran is 'small potatoes for us' from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Wright: US has 'a lot of leverage' in Venezuela after oil deal reached from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· White House unveils new details of Venezuela agreement from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Chris Wright explains how Venezuelan crude will ‘fill’ the Strategic Petroleum Reserve from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Energy Secretary Wright says Venezuela oil deal will bring down gas prices in a year or two from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Chevron to expand in Venezuela, days after the U.S. and Venezuela strike oil deal from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Venezuelan oil flows will lower gas prices in 12-24 months, Wright says in Caracas from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Trump says Venezuelan oil will replenish Strategic Petroleum Reserves from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.