The U.S. Justice Department has ordered employees to call artificial intelligence “super intelligence” in most circumstances, carrying a White House terminology mandate into public communications, policy documents and official records. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter issued the directive Tuesday. It also tells staff to use “SI” instead of “AI,” including in court filings when appropriate. The vocabulary change came from the top.
The memo says employees should use the new terms “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” That qualification matters: the directive changes how the department presents the technology, while acknowledging that legal limits still apply. Its reach includes the department’s public statements and the records through which employees conduct its work.
A change ordered from above
President Donald Trump issued an executive order last week mandating the terminology change within federal agencies. Trump said the wording would more accurately reflect the potential of the rapidly advancing technology. The Justice Department’s Tuesday memo turns that presidential instruction into a directive for employees, specifying how they should refer to the technology in official work.
The Reuters report said public perception of artificial intelligence has soured after hacking incidents raised questions about safety. The article doesn’t say the new terminology answers those questions. It does report that Trump has resisted new regulations for the technology, while saying the Justice Department would rein it in if necessary. So the administration is directing the language its agencies use, while keeping regulation in the background as a possibility.
The force assembled around the technology
The Hill reported that Trump selected four administration officials to lead a new “Super Intelligence Force,” or SIF, amid pressure over AI risks and after months of mixed messaging on White House AI policy. Jay Clayton, who heads the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), will lead the group.
Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson and Scott Kupor, the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), will serve as vice chairs. The group will explore the technology’s benefits and risks and ensure America’s lead in the development race. The officials named to steer the effort come from intelligence, defense, consumer oversight and federal personnel agencies. The reports identify no community-led body in its leadership.
Private development keeps moving
Federal agencies are standardizing their language, and officials are organizing the government’s approach. Meanwhile, Reflection AI has released a model of its own. The open-source startup, backed by Nvidia, released its first open-weight model, Beam, on Monday. The company said Beam rivals leading open technologies in the United States and China.
In a blog post Monday, Reflection AI said Beam is on par with some leading open-source models made in China, including Chinese AI startup Z.ai’s GLM-5.2, and close to Alibaba’s Qwen3.8-Max. Those comparisons come from the company, not an independent assessment in the reports. The articles describe federal direction over terminology, an administration group tasked with weighing risks and benefits, and private companies competing to build the technology. They report no grassroots organizing or mutual-aid response; the choices described are being made by government officials and technology firms.