Superintelligence (SI)

The renaming came in two steps. On 22 September 2026, Donald Trump spoke before the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. There he announced that all United States documents should speak of “Super Intelligence” instead of “Artificial Intelligence” in the future. The word “artificial”, he said, makes the technology seem fake. In the same speech he rejected calls for global control of the technology, which more than 20 mostly European countries had made shortly before.

One week later, on 29 September 2026, the executive order titled “Inaugurating The Era Of Super Intelligence” followed. It was signed after a summit with the heads of major technology companies at the White House. Since then, the rule for the US federal administration is: AI becomes SI.

The order is above all a language rule for the US federal administration. It does not apply to companies, citizens or other countries. According to Forbes, existing laws, regulations and contracts do not have to be rewritten.

The White House justifies the new name by saying it better describes the actual capabilities of today's technology. The systems, it says, do not merely imitate or automate human intelligence, as the term “artificial intelligence” suggests. The name stands for the continuously advancing technological frontier and the limitless promise for the American people. Trump himself said that “Super Intelligence” more appropriately captures the promise, potential and rapidly advancing capabilities.

There is also a political line behind the choice of words. The US government relies on speed and leadership instead of strict regulation. The word “Super” emphasises strength and opportunity, while “artificial” tends to raise scepticism. Observers such as CNBC also place the move in the campaign before the midterm elections, because polls show growing concern among Americans about the technology.

The new term is controversial. Darrell West of the Brookings Institution said the name sounds like “Terminator”, more threatening than reassuring. Experts therefore doubt that the renaming will increase public acceptance.

Then there is clarity: internationally, AI remains the established term, in Germany KI. Companies should therefore know that both names mean the same thing when American partners, vendors or authorities speak of SI in the future.

At the end of the White House summit, the heads of the major US labs signed a separate document, the “White House Accord on Super Intelligence”. It is not a law but a voluntary commitment by the industry. According to Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, it contains common standards for internal controls as well as for internal and external reviews of the systems.

Trump called the agreement “morally binding” for the signatories. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the summit as a positive step and stressed that the leaders of every major American lab had committed to robust internal controls.

Legally, nothing changes for companies in Germany. The EU AI Act still applies unchanged, as does the GDPR. Anyone using AI systems must continue to meet the same obligations, no matter what the technology is called in Washington.

In practice, it pays to know the new term. US vendors, press releases and government documents will increasingly speak of SI. The name will also appear in tenders, contracts with US partners and the trade press. Anyone who knows that SI and AI mean the same thing will read these texts correctly.

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