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Updated September 22, 2026
If you've seen "SI" in the news today and wondered whether you missed something, you're not alone. Here's what happened, what it means, and what it changes for you (spoiler: less than you'd think).
What happened
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that the US government will rename artificial intelligence "super intelligence" in official documents. Speaking at the UN General Assembly, he argued that "the use of the word artificial makes intelligence sound fake," and added: "It is not fake. It's actually amazing."
He said that "from this point forward, all of United States documents and hopefully the world's" would change to "the much more accurate term super as opposed to artificial," then gave the new label its initials: "welcome to the new world of super intelligence," or SI.
The announcement followed a few days of public discussion. On Saturday, September 19, Trump posted a poll on Truth Social floating three alternatives: "Superior Intelligence," "Extreme Intelligence," and "Supreme Intelligence." He wrote that the current name is "inaccurate, and very ineloquent." More than 64,000 people voted. "Superior Intelligence" won with 41%, ahead of "Extreme Intelligence" at 38% and "Supreme Intelligence" at 21%.
Here's the twist: "super intelligence," the name he actually announced three days later, was not one of the three options. That's why you may see "SI" explained in slightly different ways this week.
What "superintelligence" already means
Here's the part most headlines skip. In the tech world, "superintelligence" isn't new. It already describes a form of AI that would exceed human intelligence. It's both the long-term goal of many leading AI companies and the biggest worry for people warning about AI's risks.
In other words, experts use "superintelligence" to describe a future stage of AI, one that would outperform people at nearly everything. The tools most of us use today, like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, are impressive, but they are not superintelligence in that technical sense.
So when you read "SI" this week, it helps to ask: is this the new government label for everyday AI, or the technical term for a future, more powerful AI? The same two letters now mean both.
Why it matters this week
The name change arrives in the middle of a bigger conversation. AI has become a major topic at this year's UN General Assembly, and Trump used his speech to restate his opposition to international regulation of AI.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council holds a high-level briefing on AI, convened by France, which holds the Council presidency this month. The briefers include Yoshua Bengio, co-chair of the UN's Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue. The session focuses on the systemic risks of the most advanced systems, including misalignment and the possibility of losing control over them.
Whatever you call it, AI is officially a world-stage issue.
What changes for you
Honestly? Very little, for now.
- Your tools work exactly the same. A new name doesn't change what ChatGPT or any other assistant can do.
- You'll see both terms. Companies, schools, and most media will keep saying "AI," while US government documents may say "SI." It's worth knowing both.
- The skills you're building still matter. Writing good prompts, checking AI's work, and knowing when not to use it are just as valuable under any name.
The real "SI moment" isn't about a name. It's the moment you realize these tools can genuinely help with your work, and you start using them with confidence.
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*Curious what one person can build with AI? I used it to create Faerypaper, personalized posters for kids' rooms.*
Sources: The Hill · Washington Post · Gizmodo · The Hill, on the poll · Security Council Report · CNBC