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There are many ways to announce a new era of artificial intelligence. Posting an AI agreement that spells “United States” as “Unites States” probably wasn’t the intended one.

President Donald Trump met with executives from six major AI companies at the White House on September 29, where they announced a voluntary agreement focused on the development and oversight of increasingly advanced AI systems. The companies involved were Google, Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic, NVIDIA and xAI.

Then came the document.

In the version of the agreement shared publicly, the line beneath Trump’s signature identifies him as the “President of the Unites States.”

Yes, “Unites.” As in, the United States apparently lost a letter somewhere between the White House and the printer.

The typo quickly became the most entertaining part of a document otherwise filled with serious language about AI safety, oversight and the responsibilities of companies developing frontier AI systems. TechCrunch reported that the error appeared directly beneath Trump’s signature, while The Guardian also highlighted the mistake.

And because this is 2026, the typo naturally became part of the AI story.

Trump wants federal agencies to use “Super Intelligence” instead of AI

The spelling mistake would have been enough for one news cycle, but the White House was also announcing a significant change in how the federal government talks about AI.

On September 29, Trump signed an executive order titled “Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence.” The order directs the executive branch to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI,” to the maximum extent permitted by law, in applicable government communications and other specified settings.

That does not establish “Super Intelligence” as a universal replacement for the term artificial intelligence.

Instead, the order directs the federal executive branch to adopt the terminology. The order also directs the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology to propose a federal definition of “Super Intelligence” and “SI” within 60 days, including consideration of whether that definition should modify, expand upon or supersede the existing statutory definition of AI.

So, no, your AI assistant isn’t suddenly legally required to introduce itself as an SI assistant.

The change is about federal terminology.

The White House says the new language reflects the rapidly advancing capabilities of today’s frontier systems, describing them as going beyond the narrower forms of human-intelligence imitation and automation associated with earlier AI systems.

The agreement is about AI safety, not just terminology

The terminology change was separate from the voluntary agreement signed by Trump and representatives of the six AI companies.

Called the Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities, the agreement establishes voluntary commitments for companies developing and deploying frontier AI systems.

The pledge calls for companies to establish controls intended to ensure that their technology behaves as intended and that problems are identified and resolved. It includes internal controls and independent oversight, including board-level involvement.

The important word here is voluntary.

The agreement itself does not create a new law or impose the kind of legal penalties that would come with federal legislation or regulation. TechCrunch reported that there do not appear to be legal or regulatory ramifications for companies that fail to follow the commitments.

That distinction matters because the White House event brought together two different developments: a voluntary industry commitment concerning frontier AI responsibilities and a presidential executive order establishing new terminology for the federal executive branch.

Six major AI companies signed the commitment

The agreement was signed by representatives of six major technology companies:

• Google
• Anthropic
• Meta
• OpenAI
• NVIDIA
• xAI

The participating executives included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and xAI CEO Elon Musk.

The companies represent some of the biggest players in the development and infrastructure surrounding advanced AI systems.

But their commitment remains a voluntary industry pledge rather than a new federal AI safety law.

The “Unites States” typo is the real plot twist

The typo is almost too perfect.

The White House is talking about frontier AI, independent evaluations, board oversight and a new era of “Super Intelligence.” Some of the world’s largest AI companies have signed a voluntary commitment on responsible development.

And directly underneath the president’s signature:

“President of the Unites States.”

The document containing the typo was shared publicly, including on Trump’s Truth Social account, and was also distributed by the White House. It was not immediately clear how the error happened or whether the same version would appear in the Federal Register.

The typo doesn’t change what the agreement actually does. But it certainly makes an otherwise extremely serious AI policy announcement a lot more memorable.

The bigger story is the language around AI

The funniest part of this episode is the typo. The more consequential part is the terminology change.

The White House’s executive order specifically uses the styling “Super Intelligence” and the abbreviation “SI” for the terminology it wants the executive branch to adopt.

For now, that’s primarily a government vocabulary change. The technology itself does not become more capable because a federal document gives it a new name.

But terminology can matter in technology policy. The words used in laws, regulations and government documents can influence how technologies are defined and discussed.

That’s why the executive order’s direction to develop a future federal definition of “Super Intelligence” is more significant than simply changing the wording on government websites.

So we’ve got two stories here.

One is about how the US government wants its executive branch to talk about increasingly capable AI.

The other is about how the US government accidentally spelled its own name.

And somehow, the second one is the easier story to explain.