What is the difference?
Artificial intelligence is the established broad term for systems that perform tasks associated with intelligence. Under the 2026 executive order, “Super Intelligence” is the term federal executive agencies are directed to use in certain communications for technologies covered by the existing federal AI definition. Technical artificial superintelligence has a different meaning.
| Term | How it is used | What it implies |
|---|---|---|
| AIArtificial Intelligence | An established umbrella term in research, industry, and everyday conversation. | A category of technologies, not a guarantee of accuracy or human-level intelligence. |
| SIUnder the 2026 EO | The prescribed term in certain federal executive-branch communications; Section 3 refers to the existing statutory AI definition. | A policy label. It does not certify advanced or beyond-human capabilities. |
| Technical ASIArtificial superintelligence | A research concept for a hypothetical system exceeding human capability across broad domains. | A specific proposed level of capability, not established by changing a name. |
Does calling a tool SI make it more capable?
No capability certification follows from the label alone. A tool’s usefulness depends on what it can reliably do in the task you give it. A strong result in one narrow task does not demonstrate broad, human-exceeding intelligence. Likewise, confident language in a response is not evidence that the response is correct.
Consider a summarization tool. Calling it AI or policy SI does not tell you whether it missed an important sentence, invented a detail, or handled a particular document well. You still need to compare its output with the original. The practical evaluation stays the same even when terminology changes.
Which term should you use?
Use the term that fits your context, and explain it when ambiguity matters. AI remains a familiar term for everyday learning and technical discussion. When discussing the order, “SI under the 2026 executive order” makes the policy meaning explicit. When discussing hypothetical superintelligence, use “technical ASI” and state what capability you mean.
A useful reading habit is to ask three questions: Who is using the word? What definition are they relying on? What evidence supports any capability claim? These questions help distinguish a naming convention from a technical argument, without taking a political position.
Where can you check the policy?
Read the Federal Register text of Executive Order 14434, especially its scope and Section 3 definition, or our explainer on why Trump renamed AI to SI. Our guide to what SI means adds context, while the PolitiFact explainer provides secondary reporting. For everyday use, focus less on the label and more on checking outputs, protecting private information, and choosing a low-stakes first task.