Fact Check: Did Jared Kushner recently buy '.si' domain names after Trump's AI name change?
WASHINGTON, DC: After President Donald Trump signed an executive order on ‘super intelligence,’ aiming to address fears about Artificial Intelligence, a rumor began circulating on social media platforms claiming that Jared Kushner bought ‘.si’ domain names. The claim has sparked speculation and prompted a fact-check.
Claim: Jared Kushner bought ‘.si’ domain names
According to a viral post that surfaced on X, Kushner bought ‘.si’ domain names after Trump signed an executive order renaming AI to SI, or ‘Super Intelligence.’
The claim surfaced after the .si domain has seen a surge in registrations since Trump signed the executive order.
The viral post stated, “BINGO! Jared Kushner owns the domains .si, so that is why Trump is trying to rebrand AI to Super Intelligence. It's all about the benjamins.”
The post has garnered hundreds of thousands of views as of this writing, drawing conflicting reactions from online users, with many criticising the Trump administration and the president’s son-in-law.
Meanwhile, a few others remained skeptical and questioned the claim’s authenticity.
Fact Check: No credible evidence to support the claim
The claim, however, is false, as there is no evidence of Ivanka Trump’s husband recently buying ‘.si’ domain names after Trump ordered the renaming.
There are no official statements, announcements, or social media posts from Trump or Kushner that support the claim.
Moreover, Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, stated in an email on October 9 that “Jared Kushner does not own any .si domain names.”
If the claim were true, prominent news outlets would have widely covered it, making headlines, but a search on Google for the claim yielded no such reports.
Donald Trump's executive order seeks to replace AI with 'SI'
Trump’s executive order explained the administration's reasoning for attempting to rename AI as SI, stating, “The terminology used by the Federal Government should reflect the transformative capabilities of these technologies and the limitless opportunities they create for the American people."
"Accordingly, the term ‘Super Intelligence' more appropriately captures the promise, potential, and rapidly advancing capabilities of these technologies."
"It is therefore the policy of my Administration that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the executive branch shall use the terms ‘Super Intelligence' and ‘SI' in place of ‘Artificial Intelligence' and ‘AI' and will not acknowledge the usage of ‘Artificial Intelligence' and 'AI' in any applicable setting.”
