White House & Technology
White House Orders a New Vocabulary for Federal AI
The administration directs agencies to use “Super Intelligence” in new communications, with legal limits and historical records preserved.
An executive-branch terminology change
A September 29 executive order directs federal agencies to replace “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” with “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in official communications and other non-statutory documents, to the extent allowed by law.
The distinction behind the name
For implementation, the order initially uses the technologies covered by the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence. It does not require agencies to rewrite previously issued regulations, contracts, grants or presidential actions. The terminology change should therefore not be read as proof that a particular system has achieved a new technical capability.
A legislative proposal is due
The president’s science and technology adviser has 60 days to submit proposed legislative language for a federal definition and assess possible changes to existing statutory references. A proposal is not an enacted amendment. Readers comparing older records with new agency statements will need to distinguish a change in naming from a change in law or performance.