U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in September 2026 intended to launch an era of “super intelligence,” directing the federal executive branch to replace “artificial intelligence” and “AI” with “super intelligence” and “SI” in specified materials. Trump and representatives of six leading technology companies also signed a voluntary safety accord that matters because it establishes four levels of internal and external oversight for frontier models.

Federal government adopts new terminology

Trump said modern systems were surpassing the capabilities envisioned when the term “artificial intelligence” emerged. He said the systems increasingly augment human abilities, unlock new forms of creativity and enable previously impossible breakthroughs in science, medicine and other fields.

“The term “Super Intelligence” more appropriately captures the promise, potential, and rapidly advancing capabilities of these technologies,” the order says.

Under the order, federal departments and agencies must use “super intelligence” and “SI” in official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory executive branch documents.

Previously issued regulations, presidential directives, contracts, grants and historical documents do not need to be revised. The order defines “super intelligence” through the existing statutory definition of artificial intelligence, making it a new federal label for technologies already covered by that definition.

Within 60 days, the president’s science and technology adviser must submit proposals for legislative definitions of “super intelligence” and “SI.” The proposals must assess whether the current definition of AI should be changed or expanded and include relevant legislative amendments and recommendations for further presidential or executive action.

Companies accept four levels of oversight

At a White House meeting, Trump and Sundar Pichai of Google, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Greg Brockman of OpenAI, Elon Musk of xAI and Jensen Huang of Nvidia signed the White House Accord on Super Intelligence: Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities.

David Sacks said the accord marked an important step toward the safe development of “super intelligence.” He said leaders of companies developing chips, data centers and frontier models accepted responsibility for product safety and agreed to new internal controls and external audits.

The voluntary accord establishes four oversight levels:

• Internal oversight systems: Companies must monitor model capabilities and compliance during training and use, including cybersecurity, biosecurity and chemical threats.
• Internal oversight teams: Separate groups must verify that monitoring mechanisms work and address identified problems.
• Independent external audits: Companies must retain independent auditors or evaluators to review those mechanisms.
• Board oversight: Independent board committees must receive reports from internal teams and outside auditors and oversee remediation.

The companies also agreed to meet regularly to develop standards and best practices for operating the systems safely. The accord says the measures could eventually be incorporated into laws or regulations.

Pichai said Google had invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the technology over the previous two years and was working on testing, evaluation and other safeguards.

“The White House Accord and the Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities signed today is a solid basis for moving forward – it contains real tangible steps to promote safe development, while delivering the economic and scientific benefits of this technology,” Pichai wrote.

Zuckerberg called the agreement “a significant positive step,” saying commitments to internal oversight and multiple audit layers should increase public trust in the technology. OpenAI had previously published policy proposals for a world with super intelligence.

Source: Incrypted