White House 'Super Intelligence' order leaves legal scope to a 60-day definition proposal

The definition stays put

Section 3(a) limits what the rest of the order can cost. For the order's purposes, "Super Intelligence" and "SI" mean the technologies and systems already covered by "artificial intelligence" as defined in section 9401(3) of title 15 of the U.S. Code ^[4].

The rename covers official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents within the executive branch ^[2]. Its stated policy is that the executive branch "will not acknowledge the usage of 'Artificial Intelligence' and 'AI' in any applicable setting" ^[1]. Section 2(b) then says previously issued regulations, Presidential actions, contracts, grants and other historical documents need not be altered ^[3]. The order is to be carried out subject to the availability of appropriations, and it creates no right or benefit anyone can enforce against the government ^[7]. On those terms, the order spends no new money and puts no new obligation on any contractor, grantee or regulated company ^[3][7].

The 60-day clause

The money question sits in section 3(b). Within 60 days of the order, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology must send the President proposed legislative language for a federal definition of "Super Intelligence" that reflects the capabilities described in section 1 ^[5]. The proposal has to assess whether that definition should "modify, expand upon, or otherwise supersede" the statutory definition of artificial intelligence. It also has to draft conforming amendments to existing statutory references to the old terms and recommend any further executive action ^[5]. Until a later Presidential action or an Act of Congress replaces it, the 9401(3) definition governs ^[6].

The proposal could mirror 9401(3), leaving "SI" a synonym and moving nothing priced off the statute. It could change the definition and carry conforming amendments into the statutes, the only route by which the label gets a legal scope of its own ^[5]. Or it could reach Congress and stop there, leaving section 3(a) in force ^[6]. I'd expect the existing definition to govern for some time, since the proposal is only language sent to the President and changing a statute takes an Act of Congress ^[5][6]. The counter-case starts in section 1. It says today's frontier systems "increasingly represent not merely artificial intelligence, but a new era of Super Intelligence" ^[8]. A definition written to capture that could cover fewer systems than the current statute does, and section 3(a) lets a later Presidential action, consistent with applicable law, replace the order's definition without waiting for Congress ^[6]. A proposal that keeps 9401(3) intact and recommends no conforming amendments would show the rename is vocabulary and nothing more.

Prosecutors already use the word

The Justice Department's release on Greg Lui puts the new vocabulary into a public communication, one of the settings section 2(a) names ^[2][10]. Lui, the owner of a San Gabriel Valley technology company, was arrested on a three-count federal indictment charging him with smuggling more than $300 million of export-controlled high-end servers containing U.S.-manufactured GPUs to China ^[9]. The release describes those GPUs as "commonly used for Super Intelligence (SI) applications" ^[10]. "SI is the defining technology of the era," said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security ^[11].

The charges rest on export law. Lui faces one count of conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations, one count of outbound smuggling and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering ^[12]. Section 2(b) of the order leaves previously issued regulations as written ^[3], so the export rules in this case are untouched by the rename.

According to the indictment, returned on Sept. 29, Lui, 38, owns Earthmade Computer Inc., a closely held company based in City of Industry ^[13]. From 2023 to 2024, the indictment says, Lui and co-conspirators used Earthmade to buy export-controlled items and send them to China without the required Commerce Department licenses. They shipped the servers to countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, where no license is required, then re-exported them to China ^[14]. The documents given to U.S.-based manufacturers allegedly said the servers were going to permissible end users and destinations that needed no license, and freight forwarders moved the goods ^[15]. "This defendant allegedly used false paperwork and shipments through third countries to smuggle more than $300 million in export-controlled computer servers to China," said Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California ^[16].

Spread evenly across 2023 and 2024, more than $300 million works out to more than $150 million a year through one closely held company ^[24]. In the government's account, the control point is the end-user paperwork a manufacturer receives from a domestic buyer ^[15]. The indictment charges the buyer ^[9]. The release does not identify the manufacturers or say whether any of them faces liability. "We're grateful to our partners across the U.S. government and private sector for their assistance," said Roman Rozhavsky, Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division ^[17].

Meta prices it at zero

Meta introduced Muse earlier this month as a personal AI agent for the US and Canada, and is now adding skills and connectors for running a business ^[18]. Muse links to Instagram professional account analytics, Facebook Pages and Meta ad accounts. It also connects to dozens of outside tools covering a business's brand, storefront, books and customer records ^[19]. "Muse is free for most of what people need, in line with our vision to put superintelligence in the hands of as many people as possible. For those who want more, we're offering subscription plans," Meta wrote ^[20].

The same release calls Muse "a personal AI agent" and says Meta is "building AI across Meta" ^[18][23]. The order reaches executive departments and agencies ^[2], so a private company can use both words in one announcement.

Under the free tier, Meta pays to serve most users and collects only from those who pay for more ^[20]. Its spending goes to reach: partners can apply to build connectors, and users can plug in custom ones for services Meta does not yet support ^[19]. Because Muse sits on the same Meta ad accounts a business already runs ^[19], I'd expect any return on the free tier to appear there before it appears in subscriptions. Meta's release ties the free tier only to its superintelligence vision ^[20].

The pitch is aimed at owners short on time. "I work about 65 hours a week, and there are so many things where I'm the only one who can do them," said Tom Mulholland, owner of Mulholland Grocery in Malvern, Iowa ^[21]. Cameron Adams, Canva's co-founder and CPO, said "the real magic happens when it's fully connected to your existing work, your context and your brand" ^[22].

Where the word meets a number

In the Lui case, "Super Intelligence" sits next to an actual dollar figure: the more than $300 million of servers ^[9][10]. The liability there runs through export rules the order leaves as written ^[3][12]. Meta puts the word next to a price of zero for most use ^[20]. The White House puts it next to no appropriation ^[7] and an unchanged statutory definition ^[4]. The proposal due within 60 days is the first document that could give the word a legal reach of its own ^[5].