Mechanism: A top-down naming preference is routed through agency communications and public interfaces, whose updates may be inconsistent. Axios reports that Trump called users of “Artificial Intelligence” “the enemy” and urged “Super Intelligence” instead; the September executive order directs agencies to change official descriptions while defining the term through the existing federal AI definition. AI.gov displayed “SI.gov” while retaining its AI.gov URL, SI.gov led to an error page, and the America.gov chatbot used the preferred wording.
Why now: The White House has made the preference visible in both a presidential post and an updated government website, turning a branding instruction into an observable implementation test. First implication: For now, the evidence points to a communications-layer change rather than a technical or legal redefinition: the order reportedly reuses the existing federal AI definition.
Evidence boundary: This account relies on Axios’s reporting; it does not establish how every agency will implement the instruction, whether the White House will standardize its sites, or whether terminology will acquire policy consequences. First watch condition: Whether the White House updates its websites consistently with the preferred terminology.