Federal agencies must now write 'SI' instead of 'AI'
Trump's September 29 executive order tells federal agencies to write "SI" instead of "AI" in their official documents and on their websites. The order does not bind private firms, but vendors that sell to agencies will meet "SI" throughout the documents they read.
The Product Desk
Federal agencies must use 'SI' in official documents and on websites; the Justice Department told staff to use it. Private companies are not required to. Salesforce is renaming AIForce to SIForce; Musk said SpaceXAI would become SpaceXSI; OpenAI has no plans to rename.
- What it limits constraint Federal agencies Ordered to switch to 'SI' in official documents and on their websites, claim 6
- Who has to decide decision Justice Department Has told its employees to use the new 'SI' language in official documents, claim 16
- Who's exposed exposure Private companies The order does not require them to adopt the new terminology, claim 3
- Who has to decide decision Salesforce Renaming its AIForce agent platform to SIForce, Marc Benioff said, claim 7
- Who has to decide decision SpaceXAI (Elon Musk) Musk said the company would be renamed SpaceXSI, claim 2
- Who has to decide decision OpenAI Sam Altman said OpenAI has 'no plans' for a name change, claim 9
| Who | How | Kind | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal agencies | Ordered to switch to 'SI' in official documents and on their websites | constraint | 6 |
| Justice Department | Has told its employees to use the new 'SI' language in official documents | decision | 16 |
| Private companies | The order does not require them to adopt the new terminology | exposure | 3 |
| Salesforce | Renaming its AIForce agent platform to SIForce, Marc Benioff said | decision | 7 |
| SpaceXAI (Elon Musk) | Musk said the company would be renamed SpaceXSI | decision | 2 |
| OpenAI | Sam Altman said OpenAI has 'no plans' for a name change | decision | 9 |
What happened
- The Justice Department has already told its employees to use the new "SI" language in official documents, Fast Company reported this week.
- Salesforce renamed its AIForce agent platform to SIForce, chief executive Marc Benioff said Friday, in a move first reported by Business Insider.
- Elon Musk had said last Sunday that his SpaceXAI would become SpaceXSI, the first large company to follow the order.
- Trump told reporters the "artificial intelligence" label is wrong "because it's not artificial."
Why it matters
- Who has to decide decision The order forces a choice on every vendor with "AI" in a product name: adopt the government's term, or keep the name and be ready to defend it.
- What doesn't add up contradiction A product badged "SI" is claiming it clears the superintelligence bar, and Business Insider noted that renaming a product does not show it does.
- What it sets up precedent No rule requires it, yet companies are already relabeling to match.
Next story · Product · Oct 9
Trump's order tells federal agencies to call AI 'super intelligence'Confirmed7 publishers
The administration is selling the change as image work. At the UN General Assembly, Trump said the word "artificial" makes the technology "sound fake" [14], and Fast Company reported the White House hopes a new name eases public backlash to data centers and to the privacy risks of frontier models [18]. What the order does is narrower than that pitch. It swaps one word in the communications agencies publish [1].
The word it picked already has a fixed meaning. In the industry, "superintelligence" describes systems far more capable than humans at practically everything, which today's products are not [5]. So the term means different things in different places. Inside a federal solicitation, "SI" is the government's house style. On a company's own marketing, it describes the product.
Apply that distinction to the "AI" you already own before you change anything. Sort it into three piles: the legal entity name, the product label, and the marketing copy. The entity name is costly to change, and nothing in the order touches it [3]; OpenAI has not moved, and Altman said the company will keep using the term anyway: "But we do like we have been talking about super intelligence a lot and we will continue to talk about it" [11]. The product label is cosmetic. Salesforce changed the label when Marc Benioff posted, "The era of Super Intelligence is here. AIForce is officially SIForce," and left the company's own name alone [8][10]. The marketing copy is the pile to think hardest about, because there "SI" describes your product as superintelligent.
The marketing pile is where the politics sits too. Trump wrote on Truth Social that anyone who keeps saying "artificial intelligence" is "the enemy" [4]. OpenAI, which still has "AI" in its name, has not acted like one. Altman gave $1 million to Trump's 2025 inauguration fund [17], and president Greg Brockman went to the private lunch the day the order was signed and signed the White House's "Accord on Super Intelligence" for the company [15].
What to watch
- Whether "SI" starts appearing in federal RFP templates and procurement boilerplate, not just on agency websites.
- Whether OpenAI, with "AI" in its name, changes course after saying it has no plans to rename.
- Whether the Justice Department instruction hardens into a formal compliance rule with consequences for staff.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption22
- Hype gap+55
- Incentives68
- Confidence60
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers- Builder
- Builder 16%
- Operator
- Operator 33%
- Investor
- Investor 51%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
On September 29, President Trump signed an executive order renaming AI as "SI," or superintelligence, and ordered government agencies to comply with the change in their official communications.
- [2]
Elon Musk said last Sunday that his company SpaceXAI would be renamed SpaceXSI.
- [3]
The executive order does not require private companies to adopt the new terminology.
- [4]
Trump wrote on Truth Social that anyone who doesn't use the new name is "the enemy."
- [5]
"Superintelligence" is broadly understood in the tech industry to mean AI far more capable than humans at practically everything, a bar today's AI systems do not meet.
- [6]
The September 29 executive order told federal agencies to make the switch to super intelligence in official documents and on their websites.
- [7]
Salesforce is renaming its AIForce agent platform to SIForce, chief executive Marc Benioff said on Friday, as Katherine Li reported for Business Insider.
- [8]
Benioff wrote on X, "The era of Super Intelligence is here. AIForce is officially SIForce."
- [9]
Sam Altman said on a Politico podcast that OpenAI has "no plans" for a name change.
- [10]
The Salesforce change covers the agent platform only, not the company's name.
- [11]
Altman added, "But we do like we have been talking about super intelligence a lot and we will continue to talk about it."
- [12]
Trump told reporters that the "artificial intelligence" name isn't right for the technology "because it's not artificial."
- [13]
Business Insider noted that renaming a product does not show it meets the superintelligence bar.
- [14]
Trump said at the UN General Assembly that the change is needed because "artificial" makes the technology "sound fake."
- [15]
OpenAI president Greg Brockman attended a private lunch with other tech and AI leaders the day the order was signed, and signed the White House's "Accord on Super Intelligence" on OpenAI's behalf.
- [16]
The Justice Department instructed its employees to use the new "SI" language in official documents, according to reports this week cited by Fast Company.
- [17]
Altman donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inauguration fund.
- [18]
Fast Company reported that the White House hopes the name change improves the technology's public image amid backlash to new data centers and to the privacy risks of frontier AI models.
Sources
4 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- businessinsider.comTrump's AI rebrand is catching on with Elon Musk and Marc Benioff
1 article · October 9, 2026
- cryptobriefing.comSalesforce’s Marc Benioff joins Trump’s AI rebranding effort with SIForce
1 article · October 10, 2026
- fastcompany.comTrump’s AI rebrand raises an awkward question for OpenAI
1 article · October 9, 2026
- thenextweb.comSalesforce renames AIForce to SIForce as Trump’s AI rebrand spreads
1 article · October 10, 2026