President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 29 directing executive-branch departments and agencies to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI.” The Trump AI Super Intelligence order changes the language used in specified federal materials, not the underlying technology.
According to the White House, the directive covers official correspondence, public communications, policy documents and non-statutory documents produced within the executive branch. Agencies are also directed not to acknowledge the former terms in those settings.
The order does not, based on the material released by the White House, establish a final technical or federal definition for the new label. That job has been assigned to the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, who must propose definitions for “Super Intelligence” and “SI” and identify further executive actions needed to put them into effect.
What does Trump’s AI Super Intelligence order change?
It changes executive-branch terminology. The order applies to departments and agencies under the president, rather than automatically rewriting language in statutes, congressional materials, court records or private-sector communications. The White House fact sheet identifies non-statutory documents as part of the order’s scope, which is a fairly important qualifier for anyone imagining a government-wide Ctrl+F replacement operation.
The administration says the new terms better describe systems it believes do more than imitate or automate discrete elements of human intelligence. That is the White House’s stated rationale, not a settled technical classification. The administration has yet to publish the definition it ordered its science and technology adviser to develop.
What is “Super Intelligence” under the order?
For now, the answer is incomplete. The White House says the terminology is meant to recognize what it calls an advancing technological frontier and the opportunities it claims the technology can create. But the executive order’s implementation plan still requires a proposed federal definition.
That distinction matters. A naming directive does not by itself determine what systems fall inside the term, what standards apply to them or how existing laws should be read. The White House has directed executive agencies to use new language before the administration has supplied a final definition of that language.
Trump announced the move after hosting a White House lunch with technology leaders, according to CNBC and The Verge. CNBC reported that executives also signed a separate document, the “White House Accord on Super Intelligence,” which discusses voluntary safety processes and controls. That accord is separate from the executive order and does not itself create the terminology change.
Trump said the government should not use “artificial,” arguing that the technology is powerful and should mostly be put to good use, The Verge reported. The White House says the order recognizes the technology’s promise. Whether “Super Intelligence” becomes a workable federal term now depends on the definition and follow-up actions the administration has not yet released.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
