From "AI" to "Super Intelligence": What the US Executive Order Changes for Lawyers, and What It Does Not

On 29 September 2026 the President signed an executive order titled “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence”. Its headline effect is simple to state: across the federal executive branch, “artificial intelligence” and “AI” become “Super Intelligence” and “SI”. Lawyers have been asked about little else since. Does this change the law? Do contracts need rewriting? What should compliance teams do?

This article answers those questions using the White House’s own description of the order, and is careful to separate what the order does from what commentators assume it does.

What the order requires

According to the White House fact sheet, the order:

• directs executive departments and agencies to use the terms “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in official correspondence, public communications, policy documents and other non-statutory documents;
• directs them to stop using the terms “artificial intelligence” and “AI” in those materials;
• tasks the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology with proposing a federal definition of “Super Intelligence” and identifying any further executive action needed to implement it.

The stated rationale is that the new name better reflects the capability of the technology and the opportunity it represents, rather than suggesting it merely imitates or automates human intelligence. The fact sheet places the order alongside earlier initiatives, including the July 2025 AI Action Plan.

What the order does not do

This is where most of the confusion lies.

It does not amend statutes. An executive order directs the executive branch. It cannot change an Act of Congress, and the fact sheet itself limits the terminology change to non-statutory documents. Where a federal statute uses “artificial intelligence”, the statutory term and its meaning are unchanged.

It does not change the legal effect of existing regulations. Agencies may use “SI” in new documents, but the order as described does not rewrite the substance of existing rules.

It does not bind courts or states. Federal and state courts, and state legislatures, are not part of the executive branch. State AI laws, such as those in California, Texas, Colorado and Utah, keep their own terms and definitions.

It does not affect other countries. The EU AI Act, and every other foreign law, continues to regulate “AI systems” and “general-purpose AI models” as defined in its own text. See the EU AI Act timeline.

It does not yet define “Super Intelligence”. Until a definition is proposed and adopted, “SI” in federal documents is a label for the same technology agencies previously called AI.

Practical implications for lawyers and businesses

Contracts: define, do not rename

There is no need to search and replace “AI” with “SI” in existing contracts. The risk lies elsewhere: a contract that defines “AI” narrowly may not obviously capture technology a federal counterparty now calls “SI”, and vice versa. For new agreements, and when amending existing ones, use a technology-neutral definition, for example:

“AI Technology” means any machine-based system, model or tool, however described (including as “artificial intelligence”, “AI”, “Super Intelligence” or “SI”), that generates outputs such as content, predictions, recommendations or decisions from the input it receives.

Then check that the defined term is used consistently. The free Defined Terms Checker flags terms that are defined but unused, or used but undefined.

Government contracting

Suppliers to federal agencies should expect solicitations, statements of work and agency guidance to use “SI”. Map those references to your own internal terminology so compliance obligations are not missed because of a label. Where a federal contract incorporates agency policies by reference, read them with the terminology change in mind.

Internal policies

Firm and company AI policies do not need renaming, but a single sentence clarifying that the policy covers technology described as “Super Intelligence” or “SI” avoids arguments later. If you are drafting a policy now, see what an AI use policy for a law firm must cover.

Compliance monitoring

Regulatory monitoring that relies on keyword searches for “artificial intelligence” will miss new federal documents. Add “Super Intelligence” and “SI” to search terms and alerts.

Litigation and evidence

Expect future federal documents, guidance and public statements to use the new terms. In disputes turning on the meaning of a contract term or policy, the date of a document and the drafting conventions in use at the time may matter. Keep a note of the order’s date: 29 September 2026.

What to watch next

• The federal definition. The proposed definition of “Super Intelligence” from the President’s science adviser will matter more than the label. Watch whether it tracks existing statutory definitions or departs from them.
• Agency implementation. Watch how agencies apply the order in procurement, guidance and enforcement communications.
• Legislation. Any change to statutory terminology would require Congress.
• Courts. Judicial standing orders on AI use in filings are unaffected unless courts choose to adopt the new terms themselves.

Why I retitled my book

I was finishing a new guide for lawyers when the order was signed, and I retitled it Super Intelligence (SI) for Lawyers 2026 within days. Not because the law had changed, but because the documents lawyers read, and the language clients hear from government, were about to change. The professional duties set out in that book, from verification to confidentiality, apply exactly as before. The name changed. Your duties did not.

The bottom line

The Super Intelligence order is a significant change of vocabulary inside the US executive branch, and it signals how the administration wants the technology discussed. Legally, its reach is narrow: statutes, state laws, court rules and foreign regimes are untouched, and the real substance will come with the federal definition. For now, define your terms broadly, update your monitoring, and resist the temptation to rewrite documents that already work.