California AI naming order Hype check
Newsom orders California agencies to keep calling AI "AI"
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California AI naming order
News Oct 1, 2026
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order telling state agencies to keep using Artificial Intelligence and AI after a federal order promoted Super Intelligence and SI.
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California AI naming order timeline
A state terminology directive
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued executive order N-10-26 on September 30, directing state agencies to continue calling the technology artificial intelligence or AI. The order responds to President Donald Trump’s September 29 federal directive promoting Super Intelligence and SI in executive-branch communications. Politico reported the California move early on October 1 UTC, and the governor’s office published the signed order.
Scope of the dispute
The California directive governs state-agency terminology. It does not change federal instructions, set a scientific definition of intelligence or alter what AI systems can do. The governor announced it alongside a package of AI-related worker and consumer protections, but the naming order is a separate executive action from those new laws. Its practical effect is on official language in California government, while the competing federal terminology policy remains in place for the US executive branch.