Trump Signs Order Renaming AI to Super Intelligence (SI)
Abhishek Gautam15 min readQuick summary
Federal agencies must now say SI, not AI. The law still says artificial intelligence, contracts are untouched, and a 60-day definition clock starts now.
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The United States government no longer officially says "artificial intelligence." On September 29, 2026, Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence", directing every federal department and agency to use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in place of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI" in official correspondence, websites, reports and policy documents, and to "not acknowledge" the old terms. The legal definition underneath has not changed at all: the order defines SI as exactly what federal law already calls artificial intelligence.
That detail is the key to reading this story. The name changed. The thing it describes, the statutes that regulate it, and the contracts that buy it did not. What did change is the political framing of AI in Washington, and the signal the US is sending to the rest of the world about who gets to name, and govern, the technology.
What the Super Intelligence Executive Order Does
The Super Intelligence executive order is a terminology directive for the executive branch: agencies must use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" instead of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI" in non-statutory documents, while the underlying legal definition stays the same.
Section by section:
| Section | What it says | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Sec. 1, Purpose | Today's frontier systems "do much more than imitate or automate discrete aspects of human intelligence" and represent "a new era of Super Intelligence" | The policy rationale: "artificial" undersells the technology |
| Sec. 1, Policy | Executive branch shall use SI "and will not acknowledge the usage of Artificial Intelligence and AI in any applicable setting" | Agencies should stop using the old terms in their own voice |
| Sec. 2(a) | Applies to correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents | Websites, press releases and reports get rewritten going forward |
| Sec. 2(b) | No requirement to alter previously issued regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants or historical documents | Your existing federal contract that says "AI" is untouched |
| Sec. 3(a) | SI means the technologies encompassed by "artificial intelligence" as defined in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3) | Same legal scope as before; nothing new is regulated or deregulated |
| Sec. 3(b) | Within 60 days, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology proposes legislative language for a federal SI definition | Watch for a draft around November 28, 2026 |
| Sec. 4 | Standard provisions: consistent with law, subject to appropriations, creates no enforceable rights | Nobody can sue to force or block usage of either term |
The 60-day proposal must assess whether a new SI definition should "modify, expand upon, or otherwise supersede" the statutory AI definition, suggest conforming amendments to existing laws, and recommend further executive actions. Only Congress can make those amendments.
How We Got Here: The 11-Day Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Sept 19 | Trump posts a Truth Social poll offering "Superior Intelligence," "Extreme Intelligence" or "Supreme Intelligence"; the same day he announces an "AI Force" modeled on Space Force and promises an AI "czar" |
| Sept 21 | Truth Social post: he will "only encourage AI or, SI (SUPER INTELLIGENCE)!" |
| Sept 22 | At the UN General Assembly, Trump says AI is "hereinafter officially called super intelligence" because "artificial" makes it "sound fake"; in the same passage he rejects any "globalist scheme" to control the technology |
| Sept 22 | Michael Drager, a deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of International Organization Affairs, emails staff: "Change in Nomenclature AI to SI" |
| Sept 23 | US representatives use "SI" at a UN Security Council session where the CEOs of OpenAI, Anthropic and Hugging Face call for global safety standards |
| Sept 23 to 25 | Trump-Xi state visit; the US fact sheet says both leaders agreed to use the term super intelligence (summit breakdown) |
| Sept 26 | China's Foreign Ministry says Beijing "respects their choice of the term" without adopting it |
| Sept 29 | Trump signs the executive order; the same afternoon, Quinnipiac shows 25% approve of his handling of AI and 58% disapprove |
Note that "super intelligence" was not among the three options in Trump's own poll. The winning name arrived at the UN podium, not through the vote.
What Trump Said at the UN, and Why It Matters
The rename came packaged with a policy statement. In the same breath as "welcome to the new world of super intelligence, SI," Trump said the US "totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control" AI, compared AI safety warnings to climate warnings he dismisses, and said the Department of Justice would "rein things in if we have to."
He also added, unscripted: "Let's see if I have any power. Maybe I do, and maybe I don't." A week later, the executive order answered that question for the executive branch, and only for the executive branch.
The day before, more than 20 mostly European governments had issued a joint Call for Control of Frontier AI Models asking for mandatory pre-deployment testing, incident reporting and a possible international institution. The rename and the rejection were a direct reply. Our companion piece covers what the rename means globally.
What Does Not Change: Laws, Contracts and NIST
This is where most coverage gets fuzzy, so here is the precise list.
| Area | Changes? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Federal statutes (15 U.S.C. 9401, NDAA provisions, etc.) | No | Only Congress can amend law; the order says "except where otherwise provided by law" |
| Existing federal contracts and grants | No | Sec. 2(b) exempts them explicitly |
| Existing regulations and prior executive orders | No | Also exempt under Sec. 2(b) |
| Legal scope of what counts as AI | No | Sec. 3(a) ties SI to the same statutory definition |
| Agency websites, press releases, new reports | Yes | Covered by Sec. 2(a) |
| New solicitations, RFIs and policy memos | Likely | "Other non-statutory documents"; expect mixed usage during transition |
| The June 2026 voluntary frontier-model review | No | It remains voluntary (June order explained) |
In short, the order changes the vocabulary of the federal government, not its powers. That puts it in the same family as the Gulf of America renaming in 2025 and the "Department of War" branding, where the statutory name, Department of Defense, remains in law.
Why "Super Intelligence" Is a Loaded Term
In AI research, superintelligence already has a specific meaning. Philosopher Nick Bostrom's 2014 book defined it as "any intellect that greatly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in virtually all domains of interest." It describes a hypothetical future system, not today's chatbots, coding agents or image generators.
That creates three immediate collisions:
- Research vocabulary. Labs and academics use "artificial superintelligence" (ASI) as a threshold concept. Ilya Sutskever named his company Safe Superintelligence around that meaning; Meta named its lab Superintelligence Labs for the same reason. Calling a spam filter "SI" flattens the ladder from narrow AI to AGI to ASI.
- Congressional bills. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act the same week, and Sen. John Kennedy has pushed a kill-switch bill for "superintelligent" AI. If the executive branch uses SI to mean all AI, every bill that targets superintelligence specifically now needs tighter definitions.
- Public perception. Experts quoted by the BBC doubt "SI" will stick because it "exaggerates the current capacities of AI." Critics argue the rename is meant to make the technology sound less threatening. The irony is that, to researchers, superintelligence is the version that sounds most threatening.
The Politics: Midterms and a 25% Approval Rating
CNBC framed the signing against polling. Quinnipiac's survey, conducted September 24 to 27 with a margin of error of 3.8 points, found 25% approval of Trump's handling of AI against 58% disapproval, lower than his marks on the Iran war (28%), the economy (31%) or US-China policy (34%) in the same poll.
Meanwhile, Congress is headed home for the November midterms with no comprehensive AI bill passed. Speaker Mike Johnson said, "We do not need a moratorium," while bills from the Sanders-Casar ban to the bipartisan Stop Rogue AI Act and AI Kill Switch Act sit in committee. Trump is rebranding the technology while voters are telling pollsters they want it restrained. A new name is the cheapest possible policy response to that pressure.
Our Analysis: What Developers and Federal Contractors Should Do
1. Keep "AI" in your code, docs and contracts. Nothing in the order touches private companies. Your model cards, API docs and terms of service can and should keep standard terminology. Your customers, auditors and the EU still say AI.
2. If you sell to the federal government, search both terms. New solicitations may say "SI" while older vehicles say "AI." Update saved searches on procurement portals to include "super intelligence," "SI" and "artificial intelligence." The acronym SI also collides with "systems integrator" and "systems integration" in procurement language, which will make keyword filters noisier.
3. Mirror the buyer's language in proposals, carefully. It is reasonable to echo "Super Intelligence (SI)" when responding to an agency that uses it. Do not redefine your product's capabilities. Claiming "superintelligence" in a technical volume could be read as a capability claim you cannot back up.
4. Watch the 60-day definition. The APST proposal due around late November is the part with teeth. If it recommends a new statutory definition that differs from 15 U.S.C. 9401(3), compliance scope could shift. That requires Congress, which will not act before the midterms.
5. For SEO and content teams: "SI" is ambiguous (International System of Units, Sports Illustrated, systems integration). Government pages that drop "AI" may become harder to find. If you publish about federal policy, pair both terms: "Super Intelligence (SI), the new federal term for AI."
6. Treat the rename as a signal, not a rule change. The substantive US position is unchanged: voluntary review, no new guardrails, DOJ as backstop. For the global compliance picture, the EU AI Act checklist still governs anything you ship to Europe.
For a sense of how AI exposure hits jobs regardless of what Washington calls it, try the Will AI Replace Me tool.
What To Watch Next
- The APST legislative proposal, due within 60 days of Sept 29
- Whether agencies like NIST rename flagship documents such as the AI Risk Management Framework, or leave them as historical
- The named AI "czar" and what the "AI Force" actually is (civilian office, military unit or branding)
- Whether any US ally adopts "SI" in official documents
- The late November US-China AI dialogue, where terminology may become a negotiating point
Key Takeaways
- Sept 29, 2026: Trump signed "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence," ordering agencies to use "Super Intelligence" / "SI" instead of "AI"
- The order does not change the legal definition: SI means AI as defined in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3)
- Existing contracts, grants, regulations and historical documents are exempt; statutes need Congress
- The APST has 60 days to propose a federal SI definition and conforming amendments
- Timeline: Sept 19 poll and AI Force, Sept 22 UN speech and State Department email, Sept 26 China "respects" the choice, Sept 29 order signed
- Quinnipiac: 25% approve, 58% disapprove of Trump's AI handling (Sept 24 to 27)
- Superintelligence already means a hypothetical system smarter than humans (Bostrom, 2014), so the rename blurs research and legislative language
- For builders: keep "AI" in your own materials, search both terms in procurement, and watch the late-November definition
Sources
- The White House: executive order "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence" and fact sheet (Sept 29, 2026)
- The Verge, CNA and Breaking Defense on the UN General Assembly remarks (Sept 22, 2026)
- AP via KSAT and Euronews on the State Department nomenclature email (Sept 23 to 24, 2026)
- TechCrunch and CNN on the Truth Social poll and AI Force (Sept 19, 2026)
- CNBC and Quinnipiac University poll (Sept 29, 2026)
- BBC and Defense One on expert reactions and the Bostrom definition
- NBC News and The Hill on the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act and related bills
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Trump officially rename AI to Super Intelligence?
Yes, for the executive branch. On September 29, 2026, Trump signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to use Super Intelligence and SI instead of Artificial Intelligence and AI in correspondence, websites, reports and policy documents. It does not change federal law, which still uses artificial intelligence.
Does the Super Intelligence order change the legal definition of AI?
No. The order defines Super Intelligence as the same technologies covered by the statutory artificial intelligence definition in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3). It asks the President science adviser to propose new legislative language within 60 days, but only Congress can change the law.
Do companies have to stop saying AI?
No. The order applies only to federal executive branch departments and agencies. Private companies, contracts, grants, existing regulations and historical documents are unaffected. Companies selling to the government may want to search for both terms in new solicitations.
Why did Trump rename artificial intelligence?
Trump said the word artificial makes the technology sound fake. The order says frontier systems do much more than imitate human intelligence. Critics note the rename came alongside his rejection of international AI controls and as polls showed only 25 percent approval of his handling of AI.
What does superintelligence normally mean?
In AI research, superintelligence usually means a hypothetical system that greatly exceeds human cognitive performance in virtually all domains, a definition popularized by philosopher Nick Bostrom in 2014. Experts say using it for all current AI blurs that distinction.
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Software Engineer based in Delhi, India. Writes about AI models, semiconductor supply chains, and tech geopolitics — covering the intersection of infrastructure and global events. 1046+ posts cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Read in 167 countries.