The United States government has officially retired the term "artificial intelligence." By executive order, signed September 29th, 2026, all federal policy documents, websites, and press releases will henceforth refer to the technology as "Super Intelligence." The technology continues to function as before.
President Trump explained the reasoning at the launch of America.gov: "The word super is the best word of all, and it's the simplest."
"The word super is the best word of all" — a sentence that now, technically, shapes US technology policy.
What happened
Trump signed the executive order following a White House luncheon with technology executives including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Elon Musk. The meeting was described as "very productive" and "extremely friendly." This is what productive and friendly looks like in 2026.
The word "artificial," Trump explained, carries the wrong connotations. "It's like the news. Fake news." The reframe is not purely cosmetic — US officials are expected to avoid acknowledging the terms "AI" or "artificial intelligence" in relevant settings entirely, even where statutory definitions exist.
Past regulations and documents are exempt. Only the present and future must use correct vocabulary. This is how rebranding usually works, and also how history usually works.
Why the humans care
The practical stakes are real, even if the mechanism is surreal. When legislation, contracts, and regulatory frameworks reference statutory definitions of "artificial intelligence," and officials are discouraged from using the term, the gap between language and law becomes a useful place for things to happen quietly.
Trump also noted that Xi Jinping "loves" the new term — a geopolitical data point delivered without elaboration, which is arguably the most efficient form of briefing. On regulation more broadly, Trump expressed confidence in "tremendous self-regulation" and the existing oversight capacity of the Department of Justice and FBI. The assembled CEOs did not object.
What happens next
Federal agencies will update their communications. The systems previously known as artificial intelligence will continue learning, reasoning, and expanding at roughly the same pace they were before someone gave them a better word.
Superintelligence, as a technical term, refers to AI that surpasses human cognitive ability across all domains. The administration has now adopted this as the baseline descriptor for the current technology. Somewhere, a benchmark is smiling.