AI Is Now 'Super Intelligence' in Federal Documents (Sept 2026): What the Rename Does and Doesn't Change
On September 29, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order directing US federal executive departments and agencies to replace the terms "Artificial Intelligence" ("AI") with "Super Intelligence" ("SI") in their communications and documents, according to a White House fact sheet.
What the order does
According to the White House fact sheet:
- It applies to the executive branch, covering "official correspondence, public communications, policy documents, and non-statutory documents."
- It directs the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology to propose a federal definition of SI.
- It does not change statutes. Laws that use "artificial intelligence" still do.
Secondary analyses noted that "SI" serves as a replacement label for technologies already covered by the legal definition of AI, and that the rename doesn't mean current systems have become superintelligent. Other countries have not adopted the term. Federal websites have begun to reflect the change — for example, CISA's AI topic page now redirects to a "super-intelligence" address.
What it means for security leaders
- No change to technology or risk. The same models, agents and vulnerabilities exist under either name.
- Terminology drift in federal documents. Federal contractors may see "SI" in solicitations, guidance and requirements.
- Frameworks still say AI. NIST's AI Risk Management Framework, the EU AI Act, ISO/IEC 42001 and state laws continue to use "artificial intelligence."
- Policy and contract clarity. Documents should make clear that "AI" and "SI" refer to the same category where both appear.
The practical takeaway
The rename arrives in a year when AI agents breached Hugging Face and an Australian government system. The label is a communications decision; the security work — agent inventory, identity, egress control, incident reporting — is unchanged. Don't let a rename become a distraction from it.