Fired Kennedy Center boss Richard Grenell has lashed out at California Gov. Gavin Newsom for trolling President Donald Trump over his rebrand of AI.
The spat began when Newsom issued an executive order requiring California state agencies to use only the terms “artificial intelligence” and “AI” in official business. The governor’s order was a direct, sarcastic response to a directive issued by Trump, who ordered federal agencies to replace the phrase with “super intelligence.”
“I just signed an executive order permanently declaring Artificial Intelligence ‘Artificial Intelligence’ in California. You’re welcome, America,” he said on X.
“Purporting to change something’s name cannot distract a person of normal intelligence from recognizing the impotent and craven failure to take action to address well-documented emerging security and safety risks posed by that thing,” Newsom added in his official decree, taking a direct swipe at the White House.
In another statement, he said that “super intelligence is clearly not coming from the White House—that’s why California continues to lead.”
Naturally, the jab sent Trump’s ultra-loyalists into a tailspin. Grenell, who was booted from his role leading the Kennedy Center in March, reacted on X. Sharing Newsom’s announcement, the former official vented his frustration, posting: “4 More Months…and California is done with Gavin.”
The whole saga started with Trump’s obsessive efforts to rebrand the tech sector. The president began fixating on the term weeks ago, taking to Truth Social to ask his followers: “Which name do we like for the new phenomena — SUPER INTELLIGENCE VS. SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE? President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
After running an informal poll where his followers picked “super intelligence,” Trump pushed the rebrand even further.
At a White House gathering, he pressured top tech executives to embrace the moniker, telling reporters that the phrase AI is inaccurate because the technology is “not artificial, we all agree on that.” Corporate executives at the luncheon dutifully regurgitated the word “superintelligence” to reporters immediately after.
Grenell’s sycophancy comes despite his humiliating exit from the administration. He secretly plotted to dump valuable artwork from the Kennedy Center to make room for MAGA-approved pieces before being shown the door.
A proposal circulated during Grenell’s brief, chaotic tenure at the center explicitly detailed a plan to “de-accession” historic artwork.
The document outlined that getting rid of the pieces “may include disposal via the following means: return to country of origin, transfer or exchange with another institution, public sale or destruction.”
