AI is now "SI" in the US government: what the order changes, and what it doesn't

On 29 September 2026 the White House told federal agencies to stop writing "artificial intelligence" and to write "Super Intelligence", or "SI", instead. It is a change of name, not of technology. Here is what the order covers, what it leaves alone, and what it means if you build or run AI outside the United States.

What the order says

The executive order is titled "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence". According to the White House fact sheet, agencies must use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in place of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI" in official correspondence, public communications, policy documents and non-statutory documents of the executive branch.

The new words keep the old meaning. Section 3 gives "Super Intelligence" the same meaning as "artificial intelligence" in US federal law (15 U.S.C. § 9401(3)), unless another law says otherwise. A GPU, a language model or a chatbot that was "AI" on 28 September is "SI" in a federal report today, and nothing else about it changed.

What it does not change

• Old documents stay as they are. Law firm Freshfields reads the order as not requiring agencies to rewrite regulations, presidential actions, contracts or grants already issued.
• Laws are not renamed yet. The order asks Michael Kratsios, the President's science and technology adviser, to propose a federal legal definition of "Super Intelligence" within 60 days, that is by 28 November 2026. Until Congress acts on it, statutes still say "artificial intelligence".
• Companies are not told to rename anything. On the same day, several large AI companies signed a voluntary "White House Accord on Super Intelligence" about internal controls, monitoring, independent assessment and board oversight. It has no enforcement mechanism and, by Freshfields' reading, does not ask the signatories to adopt the new name.
• The research meaning stays. In AI research, "superintelligence" has long meant something else: a system far more capable than humans in almost every field, the idea Nick Bostrom popularised in 2014. The order uses the word for today's AI. Expect the two meanings to be confused in headlines for a while.

Will the rest of the world follow?

Some companies played along: Elon Musk said SpaceX's AI unit would become SpaceXSI, without saying when. Many commentators doubt the name will spread beyond the US government, because "superintelligence" already means something specific and "AI" is used everywhere.

In Europe, the legal word does not change. The EU AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, regulates "AI systems", and an American executive order does not touch it. Contracts, data processing agreements and technical specifications written in the EU keep using "AI".

What it means if you rent GPUs in Europe

For anyone who trains or serves models, the hardware, the software and the contract terms are the same as before the order. Two things are worth watching:

1. The legal definition due by 28 November. Freshfields notes it could later shape federal incentives, oversight and export controls. If you sell to US federal agencies, expect their tenders to say "SI".
2. Wording in your own contracts. If a US customer sends a contract that says "Super Intelligence", check that the definition matches the AI services you actually provide.

If your reason for watching US policy is control over where your models run and where your data goes, a server in the EU under EU law answers that directly. Our dedicated GPU server, 8x RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell in Sofia, is rented whole, with root access, for a fixed monthly price. You can see the configuration on the RTX PRO 6000 server page.

Questions

Is "SI" the same as AGI or superintelligence? No. In the order "SI" is simply the new federal name for what US law already calls artificial intelligence. In research, AGI and superintelligence mean systems at or far beyond human level, which do not exist today.

Do US companies have to rename their products? No. The order binds federal agencies. The industry accord signed the same day is voluntary and is about safety controls, not names.

Does this affect the EU AI Act? No. The AI Act is EU law, and its terms and obligations do not depend on US federal wording.

Sources

• The White House: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Inaugurates the Era of Super Intelligence, 29 September 2026.
• Freshfields: Trump Executive Order Mandates Shift to "Super Intelligence", on the scope, the definition, the 60-day deadline and the accord.
• Wiley: Executive Order Rebrands AI as "Super Intelligence".
• IAPP: AI by any other name?
• Quartz: Elon Musk will rename SpaceX's AI unit SpaceXSI.
• Inc.: AI Has a New Name: Super Intelligence; Forbes India: Trump Wants to Rename AI.
• EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act).
• Wikipedia: Superintelligence, for the research meaning and Bostrom's 2014 book.