Trump orders agencies to say Super Intelligence instead of AI
2026-09-30 · that day's edition · one of the day's three leads
An executive order of 29 September 2026 tells agencies to say Super Intelligence, and gives the presidential science adviser 60 days to propose legislative language defining it.
Daniel Torok, official White House photographer / January 2025 Official Presidential Portrait of Donald J. Trump / Public domain, cropped
Key points
- The order says the executive branch shall use Super Intelligence and SI in place of Artificial Intelligence and AI, to the maximum extent permitted by law.
- It covers official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents, and does not require changes to earlier regulations, contracts, grants or historical documents.
- Within 60 days the science adviser must propose legislative language for a federal definition. The order itself points to the statutory definition of artificial intelligence, 15 U.S.C. 9401(3).
President Trump signed the executive order Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence on 29 September 2026. It sets the policy that the executive branch uses the terms Super Intelligence and SI in place of Artificial Intelligence and AI. Agencies apply this in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents, to the extent the law permits. The order does not require changes to earlier regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants or historical documents. Within 60 days the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology must send the President proposed legislative language for a federal definition of Super Intelligence. For the purposes of the order, it defines the term as the technologies covered by the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3).
What it means for you analysis
The text we checked sets a naming policy for executive branch documents and points to the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence, so it does not describe a new technical category. It is qualified by the phrase "to the maximum extent permitted by law", and it does not require earlier contracts or grants to be rewritten. The definition due in 60 days is a proposal for legislation, not a definition in force. If you sell AI products or services to federal agencies, check how your proposals and contract documents name the product, and watch for agency guidance that uses the new terms.
This part is our reading of the facts above. It adds no fact of its own.