Trump signs an executive order renaming AI Super Intelligence in US federal agencies as technology leaders agree to voluntary safety standards.
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing US federal agencies to replace the term artificial intelligence with Super Intelligence following talks with technology executives.
President Donald Trump has formally introduced a new name for artificial intelligence across the US executive branch, signing an order that directs federal agencies to adopt the terms "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in official communications.
The decision, announced on September 29, 2026, followed a White House meeting with executives from major American technology companies. The gathering also produced a separate voluntary agreement concerning the development and oversight of advanced artificial intelligence.
Although Trump described the announcement as an official change of name, the executive order applies to federal government terminology. It does not require private companies, international organizations, researchers or foreign governments to abandon the established term artificial intelligence.
The announcement introduces an important distinction between the administration's preferred terminology and the scientific meaning of superintelligence, which traditionally describes hypothetical systems capable of surpassing human intelligence across a broad range of activities.
Executive Order Directs Federal Agencies to Adopt New Terminology
The executive order, titled "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence," establishes a new terminology policy for the federal executive branch.
It directs departments and agencies to use "Super Intelligence" and the abbreviation "SI" instead of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI" in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory materials.
The instruction applies to the maximum extent permitted by existing law.
Importantly, the order does not require previously issued regulations, contracts, grants, presidential actions or historical documents to be rewritten.
It also preserves the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence for the purposes of implementing the immediate terminology change.
The administration has therefore introduced a change in official language without automatically altering the legal meaning of every existing reference to artificial intelligence.
That distinction could become significant as agencies update their communications while continuing to operate under laws and regulations that use the established terminology.
The order also gives the president's science and technology adviser 60 days to develop proposed legislation establishing a federal definition of Super Intelligence.
The proposal must assess whether the new definition should modify, expand or replace the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence.
Any changes requiring legislation would depend on the applicable congressional process.
Trump Announces the Change After Meeting Technology Executives
The terminology announcement followed a White House gathering attended by prominent executives from America's technology and artificial intelligence industries.
Participants included representatives of companies such as Nvidia, Google, Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI.
Trump presented the meeting as an opportunity to coordinate the development of increasingly capable technologies while discussing the industry's responsibility for managing potential risks.
During remarks following the gathering, he announced that artificial intelligence would officially be called Super Intelligence.
The president had already promoted the proposed terminology during his September address to the United Nations General Assembly.
His argument centered on the word "artificial," which he suggested did not adequately communicate the significance of emerging technological capabilities.
The September 29 executive order subsequently translated that preference into an administrative requirement for federal agencies.
However, the meeting with technology executives and the executive order were separate developments.
Participation in the industry gathering did not give the executives authority to rename an entire scientific discipline internationally.
The formal legal action was the president's instruction governing terminology within the federal executive branch.
Technology Companies Sign Voluntary Safety Agreement
Alongside the executive order, Trump announced an agreement with leading technology companies concerning the development of advanced artificial intelligence.
The agreement, described as the White House Accord on Super Intelligence, establishes voluntary commitments related to industry oversight.
Its reported provisions include internal safety evaluations, assessments of potentially dangerous capabilities and external reviews.
The participating companies agreed to principles intended to guide the development and deployment of increasingly sophisticated systems.
Trump characterized the agreement as morally binding and compared its significance to a constitution.
The description reflects the administration's emphasis on commitments undertaken by the technology industry rather than relying exclusively on additional government regulation.
However, a voluntary agreement is not equivalent to a federal statute or enforceable regulation.
Its practical significance will depend on the specific commitments, implementation arrangements, transparency measures and consequences associated with noncompliance.
Trump also discussed the possibility of establishing a committee to oversee the initiative.
The details of any proposed committee, including its membership, powers and relationship with existing regulatory institutions, require further clarification.
The announcement comes amid continuing disagreements over how governments should address the potential economic benefits and safety risks associated with increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems.
Why Super Intelligence Has a Different Scientific Meaning
The administration's terminology decision introduces an important scientific question.
Artificial intelligence is an established umbrella term covering computer systems capable of performing tasks associated with human intelligence, including language processing, prediction, pattern recognition, reasoning and decision support.
These technologies vary considerably in their capabilities.
Some systems perform narrow tasks, while more advanced models can operate across multiple domains.
Superintelligence, by contrast, has traditionally referred to a hypothetical level of intelligence that exceeds human cognitive performance across a broad range of intellectually demanding activities.
The distinction is particularly important because using a new name does not establish that existing systems have achieved that level of capability.
Under the executive order, Super Intelligence initially retains the technologies and systems encompassed by the existing federal statutory definition of artificial intelligence.
Consequently, the administration's use of the term is broader than its established meaning in discussions about advanced artificial intelligence.
Researchers, businesses and international institutions may therefore continue using artificial intelligence, artificial general intelligence and artificial superintelligence as distinct technical concepts.
The planned federal definition could provide greater clarity about how the administration intends to apply its terminology in future policies.
Until that definition is developed, the immediate change primarily concerns official federal language.
Federal Rebranding Arrives Amid Debate Over AI Regulation
The announcement also reflects the administration's approach to technological development and regulatory oversight.
Trump has emphasized accelerating American innovation and maintaining the country's technological position in competition with China.
His administration has promoted investment in computing infrastructure, advanced research and the commercial development of artificial intelligence.
At the same time, the rapid development of increasingly capable systems has generated debate over appropriate safeguards.
Researchers, industry executives and policymakers have raised concerns about cybersecurity, misuse, reliability, economic disruption and the potential consequences of highly advanced systems.
Different companies and policymakers support different combinations of voluntary commitments, independent evaluations and legally enforceable requirements.
The White House agreement places particular emphasis on industry-led oversight.
Its eventual significance will depend on whether the participating companies translate their commitments into measurable practices and how those practices interact with existing laws.
The executive order's terminology change does not, by itself, resolve these regulatory questions.
It does, however, establish the administration's preferred language for discussing technologies that are increasingly central to American economic and national policy.
What the Name Change Means for Businesses and Researchers
For organizations working with the federal government, the immediate implications are primarily administrative.
Federal departments and agencies must update their terminology in the official materials covered by the order, subject to legal limitations.
Private technology companies are not automatically required to rename their products, research programs or technical documentation.
Existing statutory references also remain relevant unless they are changed through the appropriate legal procedures.
Internationally, artificial intelligence remains the established terminology used by scientific institutions, researchers and numerous governments.
The American executive order does not establish a universal change in scientific terminology.
For the technology industry, the more consequential development may be the separate agreement concerning voluntary safety commitments.
For federal agencies, the immediate requirement is to implement the terminology directive while awaiting proposals for a new federal definition.
The coming months will establish how extensively the administration incorporates Super Intelligence into its policies and whether Congress considers corresponding changes to existing legislation.
For now, the decision represents an official rebranding within the American executive branch, rather than a global scientific renaming or evidence that current artificial intelligence systems have achieved superhuman intelligence.
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