Key Takeaways
- President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 30 September 2026 that mandates the replacement of the terms “artificial intelligence” (AI) and “AI” with “super intelligence” (SI) across all federal executive‑branch communications.
- The order applies to official correspondence, public statements, policy documents, and any non‑statutory material produced by departments and agencies.
- Agencies must cease using “AI” and “artificial intelligence” in those materials and adopt the new terminology immediately.
- The Assistant to the President for Science and Technology is tasked with drafting a federal definition of “super intelligence” that reflects the continuously advancing technological frontier and identifying any further executive actions needed to implement it.
- The White House frames the change as a recognition of the “immense opportunity” presented by emerging technologies and asserts that the United States, as the birthplace and long‑time leader of AI, should adopt language that matches its perceived capabilities and potential.
Executive Order Overview
On Tuesday, 30 September 2026, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the federal government to replace the ubiquitous term “artificial intelligence,” commonly abbreviated as “AI,” with the phrase “super intelligence” or its acronym “SI” in all official executive‑branch communications. The White House announced the directive in a brief statement, noting that the order “directs federal departments and agencies to use ‘super intelligence’ and ‘SI’ in official correspondence, public communications, policy documents and other non‑statutory materials.” This move marks a deliberate shift in governmental nomenclature aimed at aligning language with what the administration describes as the next stage of technological evolution.
Scope of the Terminology Change
The order’s reach is comprehensive. It mandates that every department and agency—ranging from the Department of Defense to the Environmental Protection Agency—must substitute “super intelligence” for “artificial intelligence” in any document intended for internal or external consumption, except where statutes or regulations explicitly require the older terminology. As the order states, “Agencies are also instructed to stop using the terms ‘artificial intelligence’ and ‘AI’ in those materials.” Consequently, press releases, grant announcements, strategic plans, and even routine memos will now carry the new label, effectively retiring the legacy acronym from the federal lexicon.
Role of the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology
To ensure a coherent and scientifically grounded transition, the executive order charges the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology with two primary responsibilities. First, the official must develop a proposed federal definition of “super intelligence” and “SI” that captures the “continuously advancing technological frontier.” Second, the assistant is tasked with identifying any additional executive actions required to implement the proposed definition across the government. This dual mandate reflects an intention to pair symbolic rebranding with substantive policy guidance, preventing the change from being perceived merely as a superficial linguistic exercise.
Administration’s Rationale
The White House justified the terminology shift by emphasizing the “immense opportunity” presented by emerging technologies. According to the administration, the United States stands as the global leader in super intelligence and should therefore employ language that accurately reflects the capabilities and potential of the technologies being cultivated domestically. The statement further elaborated, “The administration described the US as the birthplace of artificial intelligence and said the country has led the development and deployment of the technology for more than 70 years since AI became a field of research.” By invoking this historical narrative, the order seeks to frame the rebranding as both a continuation of American innovation leadership and a forward‑looking affirmation of future breakthroughs.
Historical Context of U.S. AI Leadership
The executive order’s narrative taps into a longstanding claim that the United States pioneered artificial intelligence research. Since the seminal Dartmouth Workshop of 1956, American institutions—ranging from MIT and Stanford to corporate labs such as IBM and later Google—have driven foundational advances in machine learning, neural networks, and autonomous systems. The administration’s reference to “more than 70 years” aligns with this timeline, underscoring a perceived legacy of leadership that the new term “super intelligence” is intended to honor and extend. Critics, however, may note that the field’s progress has been deeply collaborative, involving contributions from academia, industry, and government worldwide.
Potential Implications for Federal Operations
Implementing the order will require a coordinated effort across the federal workforce. Agencies must update style guides, retrain personnel, and revise countless templates and digital assets to ensure compliance. The shift could also affect procurement language, grant solicitations, and inter‑agency agreements, prompting a review of existing contracts to determine where the terminology change is permissible versus where statutory language locks in the original terms. Moreover, the rebranding may influence public perception; by adopting “super intelligence,” the government signals an ambition to characterize AI systems not merely as tools but as entities possessing heightened cognitive capabilities, potentially shaping expectations around regulation, ethics, and funding priorities.
Challenges and Criticisms
While the administration presents the change as a positive evolution, several challenges are likely to arise. Linguistic consistency poses a practical hurdle: entrenched usage of “AI” in scientific literature, media, and international standards may create friction when federal documents diverge from widely accepted terminology. Additionally, some experts caution that rebranding could obscure important distinctions between narrow AI systems and the speculative notion of general or “super” intelligence, possibly leading to misunderstandings about current technological limits. Observers may also view the move as politically motivated, aiming to bolster a narrative of American technological supremacy amid global competition, particularly with nations investing heavily in AI research.
Conclusion
President Trump’s executive order represents a decisive attempt to reshape how the federal government discusses advanced computing technologies. By mandating the replacement of “artificial intelligence” with “super intelligence” across all non‑statutory communications, the order seeks to align governmental language with a vision of American leadership in the next wave of technological innovation. The success of this initiative will hinge on the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology’s ability to craft a workable definition, oversee consistent implementation, and navigate the inevitable complexities of altering entrenched terminology within a vast bureaucratic landscape. As the October 2026 rollout begins, stakeholders across government, industry, and academia will watch closely to see whether the shift yields clearer strategic communication or merely adds a new layer of semantic change to an already dynamic field.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/trump-orders-federal-government-to-replace-artificial-intelligence-with-super-intelligence-/4073179