# Super Intelligence and AI: Two Terms, One Definition > Executive Order 14434 directs federal agencies to say Super Intelligence (SI) for AI. The legal definition is unchanged. What the two terms mean in practice. Canonical: https://www.adjective.us/blog/super-intelligence-artificial-intelligence-terminology - Published: 2026-10-04 - Author: Rob Murtha - Category: AI Assurance --- **Super Intelligence (SI)** is the term United States federal agencies now use for artificial intelligence (AI). [Executive Order 14434](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/inaugurating-the-era-of-super-intelligence/), signed September 29, 2026, directs the executive branch to use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in place of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI". The order gives the new term the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence. It changes the name and keeps the definition. This article records what the order specifies, how the federal term relates to the older research term "superintelligence", and what the change means for organizations that write for, sell to, or report to federal agencies. ## What the order specifies | Provision | Content | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Terminology | Agencies use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents, and other non-statutory documents. | | Existing documents | Previously issued regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants, and other historical documents do not have to be revised. | | Definition | The new terms carry the meaning of "artificial intelligence" in 15 U.S.C. § 9401(3). | | Legislative proposal | Within 60 days, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology submits proposed statutory language defining Super Intelligence, with any conforming amendments. | | Addressees | The order is addressed to executive departments and agencies. It sets no terminology requirement for private organizations. | The 60-day period ends on November 28, 2026. The proposal is to assess whether a statutory definition of Super Intelligence should modify, expand, or supersede the current definition of artificial intelligence, according to [a legal summary of the order](https://www.freshfields.com/en/our-thinking/blogs/a-fresh-take/trump-executive-order-mandates-shift-to-super-intelligence-102o403). ## The definition is unchanged The order defines its terms by reference to [15 U.S.C. § 9401(3)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/9401), enacted in the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020. That provision defines artificial intelligence as "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 definition describes function. It sets no threshold for capability, autonomy, or performance relative to people. A system that met the definition on September 28 meets it on September 30, and the same system is now called SI in federal communications. Statutes are outside the order's reach. The United States Code continues to say "artificial intelligence" until Congress amends it. For some period, statutory text and agency text will use different words for the same class of systems. ## Three terms in circulation | Term | Where it is used | What it denotes | | ---------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Statutes, standards, research, industry | A machine-based system that makes predictions, recommendations, or decisions for set objectives | | Super Intelligence (SI) | Federal executive branch communications | The same class of systems, by reference to the same statute | | Superintelligence | Research literature | A hypothesized intellect that exceeds human cognitive performance across domains | The research term predates the order. Nick Bostrom's _Superintelligence_ (Oxford University Press, 2014) defines it as "any intellect that greatly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in virtually all domains of interest." In that usage the word names a level of capability that a future system might reach. The federal term names a category of existing systems. A document classifier, a forecasting model, and a coding agent each fall within it. A federal document that describes an "SI system" makes no statement about that system's capability relative to people. The two terms differ by a space and by capitalization, so the reader has to determine the meaning from the source. An agency publication after September 29, 2026 uses the statutory sense. A research paper on capability forecasting or alignment most likely uses the older sense. The abbreviation carries its own ambiguity. In scientific and engineering writing, SI denotes the International System of Units. In federal procurement, it also abbreviates "systems integrator". Spelling out the term at first use in each document resolves both. ## Effects on documents and records **Solicitations and correspondence.** Agencies are expected to adopt the new terms in solicitations, guidance, and official correspondence. Responses to a solicitation conventionally use the solicitation's own vocabulary, so proposals and reports addressed to an agency will follow it. **Search and retrieval.** The body of federal text is now mixed. Statutes and earlier regulations, contracts, and grants say AI. New agency documents say SI. A keyword search on one term omits documents written with the other. Search tools, records systems, and compliance mappings need to treat the two as equivalent. **Historical records.** The order leaves earlier documents as written. The same practice applies to operational records. A log entry or a [signed audit record](/blog/cryptographic-accountability-autonomous-ai) is evidence of what a system recorded at the time, and editing it to update a term invalidates its signature. The equivalence belongs in the query and reporting layer, and the stored record stays unaltered. **Controls.** Controls attach to what a system does: who authorized an action, what data it used, and what it cost. A change of name leaves the system's behavior, and therefore the controls, as they were. Documentation that describes systems by function remains accurate under either term. This is consistent with the position that [assurance is established by evidence](/blog/ai-assurance-is-not-a-policy-problem) from the system itself. ## The accompanying accord A voluntary White House Accord on Super Intelligence was signed the same day by executives of six technology companies. [Defense One reports](https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2026/09/white-house-unveils-super-intelligence-executive-order-and-industry-accord/416383/) four commitments: internal monitoring of model capabilities and alignment, designated internal teams that oversee those controls, independent external auditors, and board committees that review the audit reports. The accord creates no legally enforceable obligations. The accord applies to developers of frontier models. Its structure is familiar from financial reporting, where internal controls are tested by an independent party. An external audit of that kind depends on records the auditor can verify without relying on the audited party's account. ## Usage on this site This site uses "AI" as its primary term, because statutes, standards, and most published research use it. Where federal readers are the audience, "Super Intelligence (SI)" is identified as the federal equivalent at first mention. Documents prepared for a federal agency follow that agency's terminology. ## Common questions ### What is Super Intelligence (SI)? Super Intelligence (SI) is the term that United States federal agencies use for artificial intelligence under Executive Order 14434, signed September 29, 2026. The order gives it the same meaning as "artificial intelligence" in 15 U.S.C. § 9401(3). ### Is Super Intelligence the same as superintelligence? The two terms have different meanings. The federal term covers the systems that the statute already defined as artificial intelligence. The research term describes a hypothesized intellect that exceeds human cognitive performance across domains. ### Do private companies have to use the term? The order is addressed to federal departments and agencies and sets no requirement for private organizations. Organizations that respond to federal solicitations can expect to see the term in agency documents. ### Do existing contracts and regulations have to be revised? The order does not require revision of previously issued regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants, or other historical documents. ### Will the legal definition change? That is undetermined. The order calls for proposed statutory language within 60 days, and any change to the United States Code requires an act of Congress.