The US government now calls AI "Super Intelligence". What changes for your business

On September 29, 2026, the US President signed an executive order titled “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence”. It directs federal executive-branch agencies to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in their official communications.

If you run a small business in Canada or the US, you may already have seen the new term in a vendor email or a headline. This post covers what the order does, what it leaves alone, how its SI differs from the “superintelligence” that AI researchers talk about, and the few practical steps worth taking.

What the order does

The order is about wording. Federal agencies are directed to say SI in official communications from now on. Three details matter for anyone who reads federal documents.

First, agencies do not have to go back and revise regulations, contracts, grants, or other documents they have already issued. Older material will keep saying AI, newer material may say SI, and for a while you will see both.

Second, the meaning stays the same. For the order’s purposes, “Super Intelligence” and “SI” mean the same thing as “artificial intelligence” in existing US law, which defines the term at 15 U.S.C. § 9401(3). Statutory definitions stay as they are unless Congress acts.

Third, the order asks for proposed legislative language on a federal definition within 60 days. A proposal is only a proposal until Congress passes something, so it is worth watching, but there is nothing to plan around yet.

What it does not change

No technology changed on September 29. The chat assistant, the transcription tool, and the fraud filter at your bank all work exactly as they did the day before. In federal communications, they now go by a different name.

The order also does not reach your own business wording. It directs federal agencies. A private company in the US can keep saying AI on its website, in its contracts, and in its staff policies, and nothing in the order asks it to do otherwise.

It does not apply in Canada at all. Canadian federal and provincial bodies still say AI, and French-language usage in Canada is IA. A Canadian business that sells only in Canada can treat the change as news from next door. One that sells into the US, or bids on US federal work, will start seeing both terms.

SI and superintelligence are different things

This is the part most likely to cause confusion, because the names are nearly identical.

In AI research, “superintelligence” (often called artificial superintelligence, or ASI) means a hypothetical system that exceeds human ability across virtually every domain. A related term, artificial general intelligence (AGI), means a hypothetical system with human-level general ability.

Several major AI labs say openly that building AGI or superintelligence is their goal. As of October 2026, no such system is generally accepted to exist, and experts disagree about when one might arrive, or whether one will at all.

The SI in the executive order is a new label for the AI already defined in existing law. It covers the tools in use today: chat assistants, image generators, recommendation engines, and the rest. A product that a vendor now calls “SI-powered” is the same kind of AI it was last month, under a new name.

So keep the two apart. SI in a federal document or a sales deck means AI. Superintelligence in a research paper or a lab’s mission statement means something hypothetical that nobody has shown exists.

What to do about it

Most businesses need to do very little. Four steps cover it.

Read SI as AI

In any document, contract, or vendor pitch, read SI as meaning AI. If a document defines the term itself, that definition governs, so read it before you sign.

Ask what the product actually does

Expect some vendors to rebrand products as SI. The new name tells you nothing new about the product. Ask the questions you would have asked anyway. What task does it do? What data does it see? Where is that data stored and processed, and who can access it? What does it cost per month at your size? A product that can’t answer those clearly was a weak choice under either name.

Keep your AI use policy

If you already have an AI use policy, it still covers the same technology, and you do not need to rewrite it. If you want to remove any doubt, add one line saying the policy also covers tools described as Super Intelligence or SI. The same reasoning applies to contracts: an agreement written with “AI” still covers the same technology. If a contract turns on the exact definition, ask your lawyer. This post is general information, not legal advice.

If you don’t have a policy yet, the rename is a good prompt to write one. Our guide to writing a one-page AI policy covers what to include.

If you hold US federal contracts, map SI to your AI controls

US federal contractors and grant recipients should expect new solicitations, contract language, and grant terms to say SI. When they do, map those requirements to the AI controls you already have: the same inventory of tools, the same data-handling rules, and the same review steps. Older contracts that say AI are not being rewritten, so you may work under both terms at once. One internal list that records both names will save a confused afternoon later.

The useful part: AI that does real work now

Whatever the federal government calls it, the technology is useful today for ordinary small-business tasks, and the new name makes it no more and no less capable.

A good starting point is our overview of AI for small business, which covers where it pays off and where it doesn’t. If missed calls cost you work, an AI receptionist can answer, take details, and book appointments after hours. If your team retypes the same information between systems, AI automation can take those repetitive steps off their plate. If you want staff using AI tools well and safely, AI adoption covers setup, policy, and training. And if client confidentiality rules out public tools, private AI keeps your data under your control.

The short version

The US federal government now says SI where it used to say AI. The technology and the legal definition are unchanged, the order does not govern private businesses’ own wording, and Canada is not affected. Read SI as AI, ask vendors what their products actually do, and keep your policies as they are. For a fuller walk through the terms, read AI, SI, AGI and superintelligence explained.

If you’d like a second opinion on a vendor pitch, a contract clause, or where AI could save your team time, write us a short brief and we’ll reply in writing within one business day.