Trump orders agencies to call AI ‘Super Intelligence’

His science adviser has 60 days to propose a legal definition, the executive order says.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday directed federal agencies to replace the term “artificial intelligence” with “Super Intelligence.” Under an executive order signed Sept. 29, agencies “shall use ‘Super Intelligence’ and ‘SI’ in place of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘AI.’”

The technology covered does not change. For now, the order defines “Super Intelligence” as the same systems federal law already calls artificial intelligence: under 15 U.S.C. 9401(3), “a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.”

The order has four sections, and it binds only the executive branch. It names no company and sets no rules for how AI is built, tested or sold.

What it directs

Section 1 (Purpose) sets the policy. “To the maximum extent permitted by law, the executive branch shall use the terms ‘Super Intelligence’ and ‘SI’ in place of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘AI’ and will not acknowledge the usage of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘AI’ in any applicable setting,” it says. The order does not define “applicable setting” or say what “not acknowledge” means in practice.

The section argues that today’s frontier systems “do much more than imitate or automate discrete aspects of human intelligence” and “increasingly represent not merely artificial intelligence, but a new era of Super Intelligence.”

Section 2(a) (Implementation) says agencies must use the new terms “in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents, and other non-statutory documents within the executive branch,” again “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” It sets no deadline for that switch.

Section 3(a) (Definition) ties “Super Intelligence” and “SI” to the statutory definition of artificial intelligence. That definition “shall govern” until a later presidential action or an act of Congress replaces it.

Section 3(b) sets the order’s only deadline (see below).

Section 4 (General Provisions) says the order does not impair any agency’s legal authority or the budget office’s functions. It “shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.” It “is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity” against the government or anyone else. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy pays to publish it.

The 60-day deadline

Section 3(b) reads: “Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology (APST), in consultation with the heads of other agencies as the APST deems appropriate, shall submit to the President proposed legislative language to establish a Federal definition of ‘Super Intelligence’ and ‘SI’ that reflects the capabilities described in section 1 of this order.”

By our count, 60 days from Sept. 29 is Saturday, Nov. 28, 2026. The order itself does not print a date.

The proposal must include three things:

whether a new definition “should modify, expand upon, or otherwise supersede” the statutory definition of artificial intelligence;
any “conforming amendments” to existing laws that say “artificial intelligence” and “AI”;
any further presidential or executive action needed to carry the definition “throughout the executive branch.”

The language goes to the President. The order does not require it to be made public. Changing the statutory definition would take an act of Congress.

Who it covers, and what it leaves out

The order applies only to the executive branch: “executive departments and agencies” and one White House official, the science adviser. It does not bind any private company, state, court or Congress.

It also carves out a lot:

The past. Section 2(b): “Nothing in this section requires the alteration of previously issued regulations, Presidential actions, contracts, grants, or other historical documents.”
Statutes. The switch covers “non-statutory documents.” Laws that say “artificial intelligence” stay as written.
Legal limits. Every directive is qualified “to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
Enforcement. It creates no right anyone can enforce in court (Section 4(c)).

The White House also posted a fact sheet on the order.

What to do differently

Founders: Nothing is required. Existing federal contracts and grants are not rewritten. Agency websites, reports and public communications are covered, so expect to see “SI” there. Keep using the statutory term wherever a law or contract defines it.

Federal workers: You are the ones covered. Section 2(a) applies to your correspondence, websites, reports and policy documents. Old documents stay as they are.

Parents: Nothing changes. The order adds no product, safety or child-protection rules.

What’s next

Nov. 28, 2026 (our count): the science adviser’s deadline to send proposed legislative language to the President, and whether any of it is released.
Federal Register: As of 7:12 a.m. CT Wednesday, the order had not been published and was not on the Federal Register public-inspection list. There is no document number or executive order number yet.
Congress: whether lawmakers take up a new statutory definition.