“Super Intelligence” Order: The Government Renames AI, but the Law Still Says AI

ANALYSIS · October 2, 2026

Slug: era-of-super-intelligence-order

Package note: analyzes Executive Order 14434, “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence” (signed Sept. 29, 2026; published 91 FR 63129, Oct. 2, 2026), with the same-day White House fact sheet as the framing document. The order governs executive-branch terminology and starts a 60-day legislative-drafting task. It does not amend any statute or regulation and does not bind private companies.

Primary sources

  • Federal Register, FR Doc. 2026-20321 (91 FR 63129): https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/02/2026-20321/inaugurating-the-era-of-super-intelligence
  • GovInfo PDF: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-02/pdf/2026-20321.pdf
  • White House presidential action (Sept. 29, 2026): https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/inaugurating-the-era-of-super-intelligence/
  • White House fact sheet (Sept. 29, 2026): https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/09/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-inaugurates-the-era-of-super-intelligence/
  • Statutory definition the order borrows, 15 U.S.C. 9401(3): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/9401
  • Coverage/analysis: IAPP (Sept. 30, 2026) https://iapp.org/news/a/ai-by-any-other-name-white-house-directs-federal-agencies-to-enter-the-era-of-super-intelligence ; TechRepublic (Sept. 30, 2026) https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-trump-super-intelligence-ai-executive-order/ ; Newsweek (Sept. 25, 2026) https://www.newsweek.com/can-trump-rebrand-ai-experts-weigh-presidents-super-intelligence-push-12491042 ; FedScoop (Sept. 29, 2026) https://fedscoop.com/trump-launches-ai-site-america-gov/ ; Nextgov/FCW (Sept. 29, 2026) https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2026/09/white-house-launches-ai-powered-americagov-digital-front-door/416303/

Federal agencies must now, “to the maximum extent permitted by law,” write “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “artificial intelligence” and “AI” in official correspondence, communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other “non-statutory documents” (§2(a)), and the executive branch “will not acknowledge” the old terms. The order defines the new term as exactly the old one.

Core Tension

EO 14434 tells the executive branch to stop “acknowledging” the term AI and call it “Super Intelligence.” In AI research, the term has meant hypothetical systems that surpass humans in virtually all domains (UChicago’s Jean-Pierre Dubé, Newsweek; TechRepublic). Yet the order’s own legal definition is the existing statutory definition of AI (15 U.S.C. 9401(3)). So it changes the label, not the law, the technology, or any regulation, contract, or grant. Meanwhile it opens a gap between federal documents that say “SI” and the statutes, state laws, contracts, and research that still say “AI.”

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