President Donald Trump’s pledge to remove “artificial intelligence” from relevant documents leaves open whether the change would extend beyond the federal government, while a Sept. 29 executive order establishes a narrower rule for agencies.
In a Truth Social post Tuesday, Trump called the existing phrase inaccurate and urged The Wall Street Journal to adopt his alternative, “SI,” meaning “Super Intelligence.” He said the administration would act “in short order” and proposed applying the restriction to relevant documents “and everything else.” The post did not set a calendar date or describe how compliance would be enforced.
The Sept. 29 order directs executive departments and agencies, where the law allows, to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “artificial intelligence” and “AI.” It reaches nonstatutory government material, from web content and reports to official correspondence, public statements and policy papers. Agencies can leave existing records as they are, including rules, presidential measures, contracts, grants and other historical material.
The order presents the terminology change as a response to frontier systems’ capabilities, arguing they do more than reproduce or automate parts of human intelligence. It says “Super Intelligence” better captures those capabilities.
The Energy Department’s Oct. 14 guidance said the order applies to its official materials and that previously published content need not be updated. That guidance shows how one department is applying the directive.
The order also directs the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology to send proposed legislative language for a federal definition of SI within 60 days after Sept. 29. The existing directive names executive departments and agencies, while Trump’s post invokes “everything else” without defining the scope of that broader pledge.
