Notes

"Super Intelligence" vs "superintelligence": same letters, different things

Last checked:

Published: · Updated:

Since late September 2026, two terms that look almost the same have been running through the news. They mean very different things.

  • Super Intelligence (two words, capital letters) is the US government’s new name for the AI we already have.
  • superintelligence (one word) is an older idea: a hypothetical system far smarter than people.

If a headline mixes them up, it can make today’s chatbots sound like science fiction, or make a proposed ban sound like it covers the tools on your phone. This is our own reading guide; the two spellings are a handy way to keep the ideas apart.

Two words: a new label for existing AI

Executive Order 14434, signed on 29 September 2026, tells US federal agencies to say “Super Intelligence” and “SI” instead of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI”.

The definition is the important part. Section 3(a) says SI means “the technologies and systems encompassed by the term ‘artificial intelligence’ as defined in section 9401(3) of title 15, United States Code”. That is the existing legal definition of AI. The order changes the name. It does not claim the technology has become smarter than people.

PolitiFact put it plainly: “The AI industry already uses the term ‘superintelligence,’ and it means something different than the government’s new definition.”

One word: a hypothetical system beyond humans

Researchers were using “superintelligence” for hypothetical, highly capable systems long before the order, as Nature notes. The best-known definition is philosopher Nick Bostrom’s from 2014: “any intellect that greatly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in virtually all domains of interest”.

In Nature’s words, by most researchers’ definitions “superintelligence is an aspirational category of systems, not a reality.” Some company leaders have used the one-word version for a while as a goal. When Gizmodo asked Meta about the new US term, a spokesperson replied that “Mark has been using ‘superintelligence’ publicly for some time.”

Where the difference really matters: a proposed ban

On 23 September 2026, US Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar proposed legislation to ban artificial superintelligence, the one-word idea.

Their proposal defines it as “an AI that exceeds human cognitive performance and capabilities across most domains”, and also covers AI capable of destroying or disempowering humanity. It would:

  • ban anyone from developing or deploying artificial superintelligence;
  • pause advanced AI development until a new cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence is running and has set up rules and a model review process;
  • carry penalties including what the release calls a “corporate death penalty” for companies, and up to 20 years in prison for individuals in some cases, as AP reported.

This is a proposal, not law. And it targets a capability threshold, not a name. A ban on “superintelligence” in this sense would not automatically cover everything a US agency now calls “Super Intelligence”.

A third one: the Accord

The White House Accord on Super Intelligence, also signed on 29 September, uses the two-word name, but it is not about naming at all. It is a voluntary safety agreement signed by Trump and leaders from Google, Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI, xAI and Nvidia. It sets out four layers of controls for frontier models, including an independent external auditor and a board committee. It has no penalties. Trump called it “morally binding”.

Signing it did not mean agreeing to rename anything.

A quick check for headlines

  1. Look at the spelling. Two words with capitals usually means the US government term. One word usually means the hypothetical beyond-human system.
  2. Look at who is speaking. A US agency, a company CEO, a researcher and a bill each mean different things by it.
  3. Look for a definition. If the source does not say which systems it means, the word alone does not tell you.

Our reading of the spelling is a rule of thumb, not an official rule. Writers will mix them up. When in doubt, go back to the definition.

Sources