WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Infinite Headlines) — President Donald J. Trump’s executive order on “Super Intelligence” changes how executive-branch agencies describe artificial intelligence. It does not, by itself, establish that a new level of machine intelligence has been achieved.
Signed on September 29, 2026, Executive Order 14434, “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence,” directs agencies to replace “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” with “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in official communications and certain documents, to the maximum extent permitted by law.
The distinction is between a government label and a technical concept. Under the order, SI covers the same technologies as the existing federal definition of AI. In philosopher Nick Bostrom’s account, however, superintelligence means an intellect that greatly exceeds human performance across virtually all areas of interest.
What changes in government communications?
The order directs executive departments and agencies to use the new terms in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents—documents that are not laws enacted by Congress.
The change concerns the language agencies use. The order says the terminology is intended to reflect the administration’s view of the technology’s advancing capabilities and promise. Its descriptions of what frontier systems can do are the administration’s claims, rather than independent verification that superintelligence exists.
The directive also has limits. It does not require agencies to revise previously issued regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants or other historical documents. Those records do not have to be rewritten to replace their original wording.
Does SI now mean something different from AI in federal policy?
Not under the definition adopted by this order.
For its purposes, “Super Intelligence” and “SI” encompass the same technologies and systems as “artificial intelligence” under the existing statutory definition in 15 U.S.C. § 9401(3), except where the law provides otherwise.
That incorporated definition remains in place unless a later lawful presidential action or an act of Congress supersedes it. The immediate change is therefore terminology, not an expansion of the category of technology covered by that definition.
What does superintelligence mean as a concept?
Bostrom’s book Superintelligence describes a much more demanding idea: an intellect that greatly exceeds human cognitive performance in virtually all domains of interest.
That concept concerns the breadth and level of a system’s abilities compared with those of humans. It is distinct from the executive order’s use of SI as a replacement name for the existing legal category of AI.
A related idea is an “intelligence explosion.” The Machine Intelligence Research Institute describes a possible scenario in which a machine becomes better than humans at designing AI, then improves its own intelligence through a feedback loop. Improved intelligence could support further improvements.
The institute presents that process as a possibility, not as an observed consequence of the executive order.
Could the federal definition change later?
The order sets a process for considering that question, but does not adopt a future definition.
Within 60 days of September 29, 2026, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology must submit proposed legislative language to the president. The assistant is to consult agency heads as the assistant considers appropriate.
The proposal must assess whether a new federal definition should modify, expand or replace the existing statutory AI definition. It must also address possible changes to related laws so their wording fits the proposed definition, and recommend any further presidential or executive action.
The deadline is for a proposal to the president—not for a new definition to become law.
What limits govern implementation?
The order makes implementation subject to applicable law and available appropriations, meaning the funding legally available to carry it out. It says it creates no enforceable right or benefit.
It also preserves existing agency authorities and the specified functions of the director of the Office of Management and Budget. The Office of Science and Technology Policy is responsible for the order’s publication costs.
