New to this? Read it in simple words
- President Trump signed an order about the words the government uses for AI.
- Government offices must now write “Super Intelligence”, or “SI”, instead of “AI”.
- The order changes the name, not the rules for the technology.
- Within 60 days, an adviser must suggest a new legal meaning for the term.
- Executive order
- A written order from the US president to government agencies.
- Superintelligence
- In research, an AI that would be smarter than people at almost everything.
- Statute
- A law passed by a parliament or, in the US, by Congress.
President Trump signed two AI-related executive orders on September 29. One set up America.gov. The other changes the words the federal government uses for the technology.
What the order says
The executive branch “shall use the terms ‘Super Intelligence’ and ‘SI’ in place of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘AI’”, the order says.
Agencies must use the new terms in official letters, public communications, websites, reports and policy documents. Older regulations, contracts and other past documents do not have to be changed.
The order argues that today’s systems “far exceed what was envisioned” when the term artificial intelligence came into use, 70 years ago.
Sources1
From the executive order signed on September 29.
What changes, and what does not
For now, “Super Intelligence” means exactly what US law already defines as artificial intelligence. The order does not change any statute.
Within 60 days, the president’s science and technology adviser must propose legislative language for a federal definition of “Super Intelligence”. The proposal must assess whether it should expand or replace the current legal definition of AI.
Many researchers use “superintelligence” for future AI that would outperform people at almost every task. The order applies the term to AI in general, including today’s systems.
Sources1
What Trump said
“It’s not AI, it’s SI,” Trump told a reporter at the White House, The Hill reports. “We’ve changed the name officially.”
The order came on the same day as a voluntary AI accord with industry leaders and the launch of America.gov, a government AI chatbot. The America.gov order already uses the new term.
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
- 1
- 2Research · September 29, 2026AI firms sign ‘morally binding’ self-policing pledge in White House meeting The Hill
- 3
- 4Primary source · September 29, 2026Streamlining Access to Government Services Through America.gov The White House
The story rests on the executive order itself; Trump’s remarks come from news reports. The note on how researchers use “superintelligence” is our own context.
Trump orders agencies to say “Super Intelligence”, not AI. Silicon AI News, September 29, 2026. https://siliconainews.com/stories/trump-super-intelligence-order
Agencies must say “Super Intelligence” instead of AI, but the order changes no law and only asks for a proposed legal definition. How we rate the mood
The mood shows how the news frames the event for the tech and AI world: as an opportunity (6 and above) or as a loss (below 5). It is not our verdict on who is right.