Trump’s campaign to rename artificial intelligence has moved from branding exercise to loyalty test — and the federal government is already struggling to follow it.

The groundwork was laid in September, when Trump issued an executive order directing agencies to favor “Super Intelligence,” or SI, over AI in official communications. The order did not establish penalties for using the older term, and it defined “Super Intelligence” through the federal government’s existing legal definition of artificial intelligence. After Trump’s Sept. 22 United Nations speech, the State Department instructed diplomats to adopt the preferred label.¹

On Thursday, Trump escalated the rhetoric. “The White House considers anyone that uses the term, ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ as opposed to the highly accepted new and more accurate term, ‘Super Intelligence,’ THE ENEMY!” he wrote on Truth Social.¹

The administration’s actions tell a less tidy story. The White House changed the display on AI.gov to read “SI.gov” in large type, but the address itself remained AI.gov; entering SI.gov led to an error page. The Office of Science and Technology Policy website also continued to refer to “artificial intelligence.”¹

Even the government’s chatbot reflected the divide. Asked about AI, America.gov’s bot replied that the executive branch uses “Super Intelligence (SI) for this topic, not the older term you used.”¹

Trump’s position is clear: SI is the new official language. Yet the continuing use of AI across White House infrastructure — and in the very legal definition underpinning his order — underscores the gap between a presidential rebrand and the vocabulary embedded throughout government and the technology industry.¹