The order does not change the legal record. Existing laws do not automatically change, and agencies are not required to alter prior regulations, presidential actions, contracts, grants, or historical documents. The order assigns the assistant to the president for science and technology to develop a federal definition of SI and recommend any additional executive actions needed to implement the new terminology. That process runs 60 days and could produce an official definition of "Super Intelligence." The definition has not yet been published, and how agencies will apply the new label in practice remains open.
The rename started at the United Nations, where Trump argued in his September 22 General Assembly address that the word "artificial" makes the technology sound fake and suggested "superintelligence" instead. The order cites the origins of the term "artificial intelligence," which it dates to the United States roughly 70 years ago, and argues that current capabilities have outpaced what its originators envisioned. The problem for attorneys is that "superintelligence" already has a technical meaning in the field: AI that exceeds human intelligence, also called ASI. Experts say AI has not reached that threshold, and warn that blurring the two terms could complicate regulation of a fast-moving technology. Watch the 60-day definition process, any agency guidance that follows, and whether the new terminology starts appearing in rulemaking or enforcement documents, where precise definitions carry legal weight.