Confirmed 5 Nov 2026 · Governance A one-minute read

The Education Department proposed striking "artificial intelligence" from its grant rules and writing "Super Intelligence".

A proposed rule published November 5 would rename the AI in education priority and redefine "AI literacy" as "SI literacy". Caveat: the Department says the substance of the priority does not change.

Until now

Federal AI education policy was fought over its content, not its vocabulary.

Now

The vocabulary is now itself a rulemaking, department by department.

Why it matters

Definitions in a grant priority decide who writes a winning application. If this is adopted, every district, university and vendor chasing the money will write SI literacy into its proposals, and a presidential preference about a word becomes the working language of American education technology.

Established

The Department proposes replacing AI with SI in every use of the terms.
The proposed SI definition is taken from Executive Order 14344.
Comments are due on or before December 7, 2026.

Not established

That the priority's substance changes. The Department says it does not.
That the rule is final. It is a proposal with a comment period.
That other departments will follow. Only Education has filed this.

The five-minute readThe record, the timeline, the weight and 2 sources

The record

The notice is a Proposed Rule, Proposed Priorities and Definitions, Secretary's Supplemental Priorities and Definitions, document 2026-22615, at 91 FR 69736, published Thursday November 5, 2026 in volume 91, number 213. We read the full 18-page text at govinfo.gov. Docket ID ED-2026-OS-3169. Comments are due on or before December 7, 2026. Under the heading Proposed Changes From Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Super Intelligence (SI), the Department proposes "to use the term ``Super Intelligence'' to replace ``Artificial Intelligence'' and use ``SI'' to replace ``AI'' in every use of the terms." Four specific changes follow: renaming the notice and the final priority from Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Education to Advancing Super Intelligence in Education; renaming the definition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Super Intelligence (SI); and renaming the definition of AI literacy to SI literacy. Two exceptions are kept: the definition of SI itself, which refers to artificial intelligence, and the title of the Department of Labor's Artificial Intelligence Literacy Framework, Notice 07-25, which is retained. The new SI definition is taken from President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14344, Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence, dated September 29, 2026, which says SI means the technologies and systems encompassed by the term artificial intelligence as defined in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3). The reasons section states that on September 29, 2026 the President issued an order, cited in the text as E.O. 14434 at 91 FR 63129, directing executive departments and agencies to replace Artificial Intelligence and AI with Super Intelligence and SI in official correspondence, public communications, policy documents and other non-statutory documents, and that the terminology is intended to reflect the continuously advancing technological frontier. The 2 order numbers in the document differ; we report both as printed. The notice amends 4 earlier final notices, including the Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Education priority published April 13, 2026 at 91 FR 18774. Separate proposed amendments add Tribal education agencies and Tribal organisations to the dual-enrollment subpart, and revise definitions of Learning and Employment Record and Skills-Based Job Description Generator. The Department states it has announced partnerships with 6 agencies. Not established: whether the change is adopted, and whether other departments file the same.

How it got here

Apr 13
The Department publishes its final priority, Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Education, at 91 FR 18774, with definitions of AI and AI literacy.
Sep 29
President Donald Trump issues Executive Order 14344, Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence, directing agencies to replace AI with SI in non-statutory documents.
Oct 9
The White House Super Intelligence Force tells every AI company that reporting security incidents is not optional. Edition 046, and the first estate card using the new name.
Nov 3
Voters in 10 states decide 41 data centre measures, and 28 would limit them. Edition 072. Federal enthusiasm meets local resistance.
Nov 5
The Department publishes the proposed rule at 91 FR 69736, replacing AI with SI throughout its supplemental priorities. Comments close December 7, 2026.

Who has to react

Every school district and university that writes federal grant applications; the education technology vendors whose product pages say AI; the Department of Labor, whose framework title is the one exception; the other departments the order covers, none of which has filed this yet; the commenters who have until December 7; Congress, which fixed the statutory definition this order cannot touch.

What to watch

Would strengthen itAt least 2 other federal departments publish Federal Register documents replacing AI with SI in their own priorities or regulations, by March 31, 2027.
Would weaken itThe Department withdraws the SI renaming, or issues a final notice that keeps artificial intelligence and AI in the priority titles and definitions, by June 30, 2027.
Would strengthen itA federal grant competition is announced using the Advancing Super Intelligence in Education priority and the SI literacy definition, by December 31, 2027.

Why it weighs this much

Signal strength

CostLow

CommitmentMedium

ReversibilityEasy

PersistenceYears

Cost is low. Drafting a notice is cheap, and the Department says the substance is unchanged, so no programme money moves. Commitment is medium: a published proposed rule with a docket and a comment deadline is a public position a department must either finalise or visibly abandon, and it is the first agency to put the September order into the Federal Register as a rule. Reversibility is easy, because a proposal can be withdrawn and a later administration can rename it back. Persistence is years if adopted, because the words would sit in the codified priorities governing grant competitions for as long as the priorities stand. We score this modestly: it is a word, in a draft.

The words

Supplemental priority: A policy the Education Secretary can attach to grant competitions. Applicants that address it score better, so the words in a priority decide where money goes.
Proposed rule: A published draft with a comment period. It binds nobody until a final notice is issued, and it can be withdrawn or changed.
Executive order 14344: A presidential order of September 29, 2026 directing agencies to use Super Intelligence and SI in place of Artificial Intelligence and AI in non-statutory documents.
Non-statutory: Not written into law by Congress. Terms Congress has fixed in statute, such as the definition at 15 U.S.C. 9401(3), cannot be renamed this way.

Sources

Your call

Which explanation do you believe?

A call is final. Other people's calls show after yours.