Executive Order 14434 Explained: The Order That Renamed AI “Super Intelligence”

Executive Order 14434, “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence”, is the order that made “Super Intelligence” (SI) the official U.S. federal term for artificial intelligence. It is short, under three pages, and does four things: it states a policy, tells agencies to change their language, defines the new term, and asks for a proposed legal definition. Here is what each part says and what it means in practice.

Key facts

Title	Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence
Number	Executive Order 14434
Signed	September 29, 2026, by President Donald J. Trump
Published	Federal Register, October 2, 2026 (FR Doc. 2026-20321)
Applies to	Federal executive departments and agencies
Key deadline	Proposed legal definition of SI due within 60 days (about November 28, 2026)
Companion action	White House Accord on Super Intelligence, signed the same day by six tech leaders

Section 1: Purpose

The order opens with a statement of national pride. It notes that “the modern field of artificial intelligence was born in the United States” and that “American scientists first gave the field its name”. It then argues that today’s frontier systems “do much more than imitate or automate discrete aspects of human intelligence” and “increasingly represent not merely artificial intelligence, but a new era of Super Intelligence.”

It ends with the core policy: the executive branch “shall use the terms ‘Super Intelligence’ and ‘SI’ in place of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘AI’ and will not acknowledge the usage of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘AI’ in any applicable setting”, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Section 2: Implementation

2(a) turns the policy into an instruction. Agencies “shall use ‘Super Intelligence’ and ‘SI’ in place of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘AI’ in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents, and other non-statutory documents within the executive branch.”

2(b) limits the scope: “Nothing in this section requires the alteration of previously issued regulations, Presidential actions, contracts, grants, or other historical documents.”

In practice: expect new press releases, web pages, strategies, memos and reports from agencies to say SI. Older documents can stay as they are, and nothing has to be reissued.

Section 3: Definition

3(a) keeps the law stable. “Super Intelligence” and “SI” mean “the technologies and systems encompassed by the term ‘artificial intelligence’ as defined in section 9401(3) of title 15, United States Code.” That definition, from the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020, describes AI as “a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.” It stays in force “unless and until superseded” by later presidential action or an Act of Congress.

3(b) starts the process of writing a new definition. Within 60 days, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology (APST) must submit “proposed legislative language to establish a Federal definition of ‘Super Intelligence’ and ‘SI’”. The proposal must include:

1. an assessment of whether the new definition should “modify, expand upon, or otherwise supersede” the statutory definition of AI;
2. proposed conforming amendments to existing laws that refer to “artificial intelligence” and “AI”; and
3. recommendations for any further executive action needed to implement it.

In practice: for now, SI is legally identical to AI. The proposal due around November 28, 2026 is the moment to watch, because it could narrow or widen what “SI” covers in future law. That would still need Congress to act.

Section 4: General provisions

Standard language found in most executive orders. It doesn’t affect agencies’ legal authority or the budget functions of the Office of Management and Budget. It must be implemented consistent with law and available funding, and it creates no rights anyone can enforce in court. Publication costs are borne by the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

What the order does not do

• It doesn’t regulate SI. There are no new safety, testing or disclosure rules for companies. Those voluntary commitments sit in the separate SI Accord.
• It doesn’t rename laws. The National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act and every other statute keep their names and wording.
• It doesn’t apply outside the federal executive branch. Congress, courts, states, businesses and other countries are unaffected.
• It doesn’t make AI into superintelligence. The legal meaning is unchanged. See SI vs superintelligence.

Timeline

Date	Event
September 22, 2026	President Trump announces the rename in his UN General Assembly speech
September 29, 2026	Executive Order 14434 signed; White House Accord on Super Intelligence signed
October 1, 2026	Order filed for public inspection at the Federal Register
October 2, 2026	Order published in the Federal Register
~November 28, 2026	60-day deadline for the proposed federal definition of SI

What it means for businesses and contractors

There is no compliance obligation for private organizations. Still, three groups should pay attention:

• Federal contractors and grant applicants: solicitations, statements of work and evaluation criteria will increasingly say “SI”. Mirroring that language in proposals avoids friction. Our AI → SI Converter helps.
• Policy and legal teams: searches of new federal documents now need both “AI” and “SI”. Watch the November definition proposal for any change in scope.
• Communications teams: decide whether to adopt “SI”, keep “AI”, or bridge with “SI (formerly AI)”. Our SI Style Guide sets out the options.

Reactions

The White House presents the change as recognition of how far the technology has come. Its fact sheet argues that “Super Intelligence” better reflects what these systems can now do than “artificial intelligence”. Critics see the move as branding: California Governor Gavin Newsom responded on September 30 with a state executive order directing California agencies to keep saying “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI”. Many researchers worry it blurs the line between everyday AI and the hypothetical superintelligence that safety debates focus on. Law firms advising clients, such as Freshfields, have stressed that legally nothing has changed yet.