WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Infinite Headlines) — The federal government’s shift from “Artificial Intelligence” to “Super Intelligence” is a change in official language, not a new technical standard for the systems covered by the policy.
President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14434, “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence,” on September 29, 2026. It directs executive departments and agencies to replace “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” with “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in official communications and other non-statutory documents, to the maximum extent permitted by law.
The order uses “Super Intelligence” to cover the same technologies as the existing federal definition of artificial intelligence. That is different from the much more demanding concept of superintelligence described by philosopher Nick Bostrom: an intellect that greatly exceeds human thinking abilities across virtually all areas of interest.
What changes in government communications?
Under Trump’s order, the new wording applies to official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other executive-branch documents that are not statutes — laws enacted by Congress.
The administration says the terminology is intended to reflect the technology’s advancing capabilities and promise. Its descriptions of what frontier systems can do are administration claims, rather than independent proof that superintelligence exists.
The directive concerns how executive agencies describe the technology. It does not establish that a particular system has reached Bostrom’s threshold or introduce a capability test that products must pass before being called “SI” under the order.
Does “SI” now have a different legal meaning from “AI”?
For the purposes of this order, no. Except where the law provides otherwise, “Super Intelligence” and “SI” encompass the same technologies and systems covered by the artificial intelligence definition in 15 U.S.C. § 9401(3).
The order keeps that definition in place unless a later lawful presidential action or an act of Congress replaces it. In other words, the new label does not itself expand the category of technology covered by the definition.
Nor does the order require agencies to rewrite previously issued regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants or other historical documents. Those records can retain their existing wording.
Could the definition change later?
Trump’s order sets up a separate process to consider that question.
Within 60 days of September 29, 2026, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology must submit proposed legislative language to the president. The assistant may consult agency heads as the assistant considers appropriate.
The proposal must assess whether a new federal definition should modify, expand or replace the existing statutory definition of AI. It must also address related changes that might be needed elsewhere in federal law and recommend any further presidential or executive action.
That is a requirement to prepare a proposal, not the adoption of a new definition. The required submission goes to the president.
What does superintelligence mean outside this policy?
Bostrom’s book, Superintelligence, describes an intellect whose abilities greatly exceed human cognitive performance in virtually all domains of interest. This is a concept about the breadth and level of intelligence, rather than a replacement name for the existing legal category of AI.
A related idea is an “intelligence explosion.” The Machine Intelligence Research Institute describes a possible scenario in which a machine becomes better than humans at designing AI. It could then improve its own intelligence, with those improvements helping it make further improvements in a feedback loop.
The institute presents that process as a possibility, not an observed consequence of the executive order.
What limits apply to implementation?
The order makes implementation subject to applicable law and available appropriations — money authorized for government spending. It says it creates no enforceable right or benefit.
It also preserves existing agency authorities and the specified functions of the director of the Office of Management and Budget. The Office of Science and Technology Policy is responsible for the order’s publication costs.
