Trump Renames AI “Super Intelligence” (SI): What the Executive Order Actually Changes

In the space of one week, the US government stopped saying “AI.” On September 22, 2026, President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly that artificial intelligence would be called “super intelligence” in American documents. On September 29, he made it official with an executive order. Here is what the order says, what it does and doesn’t change, and why the new name has divided the tech world.

What happened, step by step

A poll on social media. Days before the UN speech, Trump asked his followers to vote on a new name for AI, offering “Superior Intelligence,” “Extreme Intelligence” and “Supreme Intelligence” as options, according to Axios.

The UN speech (September 22). In a roughly 37-minute address, Trump said he was directing “all United States documents” to refer to AI as super intelligence. His reasoning was about the word itself: calling it artificial, he said, makes it sound fake.

“It’s not fake. It’s actually amazing, but we have to be careful.”

He used the same speech to reject calls for tight AI regulation and to frame the technology as a race the US must win. “Whoever wins AI… now I say whoever wins SI, whoever wins superintelligence, wins,” he said.

The executive order (September 29). A week later Trump signed an order titled Inaugurating The Era Of Super Intelligence. According to reporting by Forbes, TechRepublic and others, it directs federal departments and agencies to replace “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” with “Super Intelligence” and “SI.” At the signing he repeated the theme: “We don’t want to hear artificial. Because it’s not artificial. It’s very powerful, it’s very brilliant.”

What the order actually changes

The biggest open question is the law itself. Many federal statutes define “artificial intelligence” by name. The order does not rewrite them. Instead, it gives the President’s science and technology adviser 60 days to propose legislation establishing a federal definition of “Super Intelligence,” including possible changes to existing references in law. Counting from September 29, that proposal is due around late November 2026.

Is AI actually “super intelligence”?

Not by the standard definition. In computer science and philosophy, superintelligence describes a hypothetical system that greatly exceeds the best human minds in virtually every field, from science and strategy to creativity. Philosopher Nick Bostrom’s 2014 book Superintelligence popularized that meaning.

Today’s AI systems, including chatbots and image generators, are impressive but still make basic mistakes and remain far from that bar. People in the industry told reporters that “superintelligence” is not an accurate description of currently available AI. So the order changes the label, not the technology. That distinction matters if you’re trying to understand the news: a government document that says “SI” is still describing the same AI tools we had in August.

For a full explanation of the term, see our guide: What is super intelligence?

How the tech industry reacted

Reaction split quickly:

• Some leaders embraced it. Within days, chipmaker Nvidia’s Jensen Huang was describing data centers as “superintelligence factories,” and on October 4 Elon Musk posted “No more AI… SI” and said his AI company would be renamed. (Read our story on Musk’s SpaceXSI move.)
• Others were skeptical. The San Francisco Standard asked whether Silicon Valley would “play along” at all, noting that researchers and many companies still use “AI” for current products and reserve “superintelligence” for a future goal.
• Critics saw politics. CNBC reported the rebrand came as polls showed the President losing ground on the AI issue, framing the move partly as messaging.

Fox Business also reported that leading tech companies signed a separate accord built around the “SI” term, though its details remain limited.

Why this matters beyond the name

Words shape policy. By choosing “Super Intelligence,” the administration signals that it sees the technology as powerful and strategic rather than “fake,” and that it intends to encourage rather than restrict it. At the UN, Trump explicitly dismissed calls to rein AI in.

That puts the US at odds with a growing movement in the other direction. In 2025, hundreds of public figures signed a statement calling for limits on building superintelligence until it can be shown to be safe and controllable. The new terminology will make that debate louder, because the government is now using the same word for today’s tools that safety researchers use for tomorrow’s risks.

It also matters for anyone who reads, writes or searches about the technology. Expect to see “SI” in federal press releases, procurement notices and agency websites over the coming months, while most companies, universities and journalists continue to use “AI” alongside it. For now, the two terms will coexist, and confusion between today’s AI and future superintelligence is likely.

What to watch next

1. The 60-day legal definition. Whether Congress takes up a statutory definition of “Super Intelligence,” and how it differs from existing definitions of AI.
2. Agency rollouts. How quickly federal websites, budgets and reports switch to “SI.”
3. Industry adoption. Whether more companies follow Musk and Nvidia, or whether “SI” stays mostly a government term.
4. International response. Whether allies adopt the term or keep “AI,” which could matter for joint standards and treaties.

We’re tracking each of these on our superintelligence timeline and SI news hub.

The bottom line

Trump’s executive order renames AI “Super Intelligence” across the federal government but leaves existing laws, contracts and records untouched, and asks for a legal definition within 60 days. The technology itself hasn’t changed. What has changed is the vocabulary of the most powerful government in the AI race, and with it, the way millions of people will hear about the technology.