What is superintelligence? From AI to SI and what it means for brands

Superintelligence is a level of intelligence that clearly exceeds human intelligence in almost every domain, from scientific creativity to general reasoning and social skills; researchers agree it has not yet been reached. In academic literature this level is also referred to by the abbreviation ASIArtificial superintelligence (ASI)In Google DeepMind’s classification, the highest level of AI, performing better than all humans..

The term recently gained a new layer of meaning. US President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14434 on September 29, 2026, asking federal agencies to say “super intelligence (SI)” instead of “artificial intelligence (AI)” in official communication. Here we cover the term’s origin, how it differs from AI, the scope of the change and what it means for brand visibility in AI (superintelligence) answers.

What is superintelligence, and where does the term come from?

Superintelligence describes an intelligence that outperforms the most capable humans in nearly every cognitive domain, not just one task. In philosopher Nick Bostrom’s 1998 paper “How long before superintelligence?”, superintelligence is an intellect much smarter than the best human brains in practically every field.

The idea is older. In 1965 statistician I. J. Good introduced the concept of an “ultraintelligent machine” able to design machines better than itself; Bostrom brought the idea to a wide audience with his 2014 book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. In Turkey, Google autocomplete still pairs the Turkish term with Bostrom’s name, so readers there still link it to this book.

The term has spread across the industry too. Meta relaunched its AI team as “Meta Superintelligence Labs” in June 2025, Microsoft AI announced a “humanist superintelligence” approach, and OpenAI published principles on the governance of superintelligence. Each use describes a goal beyond today’s systems.

What is the difference between AI, AGI and superintelligence?

AI is a broad umbrella term; AGI describes general ability at human level, and superintelligence describes a level clearly above it. Google DeepMind’s Levels of AGI paper defines the top step as “artificial superintelligence”, which performs better than all humans.

The new US executive order does not change this table, only the federal government’s wording. The order’s definitions section defines “super intelligence” as the technologies already covered by “artificial intelligence” under US law. So official US “SI” describes today’s AI systems, while academic superintelligence still names a more advanced level.

“SI” instead of “AI”: when and how did the change happen?

The change came in steps and became official with Executive Order 14434, signed on September 29, 2026 and published in the Federal Register on October 2. The order is titled “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence”.

1. July 23, 2025At the White House AI summit, Trump said he did not like the word “artificial” and that the name should change (C-SPAN recording).
2. September 19–20, 2026A poll for an alternative name was shared on Truth Social and X; the options included “superior”, “extreme” and “supreme intelligence”.
3. September 22, 2026In his speech to the UN General Assembly, Trump said the adjective “artificial” makes the technology look fake; the same week, a terminology memo titled “From AI to SI” circulated at the State Department.
4. September 29, 2026Executive Order 14434 was signed at a White House event with executives of technology and AI companies.
5. October 2, 2026The order was published in the Federal Register as 91 FR 63129.

C-SPAN recorded the White House signing event. The video below shows the meeting with the executives and the moment the new term was announced.

4:31

What does the executive order cover, and what does it not?

The order covers only the language of US federal executive correspondence, announcements, websites, reports and policy documents; it places no obligation on private companies or other countries. According to the full text on the White House website, previously issued regulations do not need to be amended either.

Reading the text’s limits, we separate three points:

1. Legal definition → Unchanged for now. Within 60 days, the science and technology adviser will propose legislative language for a new federal definition; the words “artificial intelligence” in statute can change only by an act of Congress.
2. Official communication → Federal agencies use “SI” instead of “AI” and, to the extent the law allows, do not recognise the word “AI”.
3. Companies and users → No requirement; adopting the term is optional.

Our observation: in Turkey, neither public institutions nor the Turkish Language Association (TDK) have changed the term. In Turkish search and content, the word for AI remains the main term, with the word for superintelligence quickly becoming the second.

Has the industry adopted the term “superintelligence”?

The industry is divided: some companies already used the term, while most major model developers kept their product language. According to the San Francisco Standard’s report, the OpenAI, Anthropic and Google executives at the event kept saying “AI” in their remarks.

Researchers object to the meaning. According to views in PolitiFact’s roundup, superintelligence is already a defined concept, and calling today’s systems by that name can blur two meanings. We spell this out in our content: official US “SI” and academic “superintelligence” are not the same thing.

What does superintelligence mean for brands and marketing?

For brands, the real question is which term users and AI answer engines search with; today it is “both”. An executive order does not change search habits overnight, but news, reports and official documents quickly make the new term visible.

This is where entity consistencyEntity consistencyDescribing a concept, brand or service with the same names and synonyms consistently across different pages. becomes decisive. When ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot answers a question, it weighs synonymous expressions together; a page using only one term may be cited less often for questions asked with the other. That is why we rebuild the term map in GEO work.

Measurement needs a split too. In Search Console we filter queries containing “superintelligence” separately, and in AI answers we ask the same question with both terms and compare sources. In Google AI Overview consulting and ChatGPT Ads consulting projects, this two-term question set is becoming our standard.

How is markention approaching this change?

We are not deleting AI; we are placing superintelligence next to it. In the texts on our Turkish site, we use both terms together so that roughly two in every five mentions say “superintelligence” and three say “AI”. Titles and meta descriptions keep the higher-volume Turkish term for “AI”.

The same applies to files for AI agents. Our llms.txt now has a short note on using both terms and on the order’s scope; in our AI access control work we recommend the same note to our clients. On our English pages, “AI” and “superintelligence” appear together.

On client sites we first count where each term appears, then add the synonyms to service and guide pages in natural sentences, and finally measure answer-engine visibility with the two-term question set. We track weekly how the term settles in our GEO consulting work and share the changes through our AI articles.

Frequently asked questions