Census Bureau Officially Rebrands AI as 'Super Intelligence'

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey tracks AI adoption among companies by sampling 200,000 of 1.2 million businesses every two weeks. The survey underwent two significant wording changes in the past year that affect data comparability. In November 2025, the Bureau broadened the question from AI use “in producing goods or services” to “in any business functions.” This change coincided with a sharp increase in reported adoption among large companies: from 12% under the original wording to 30% in February 2026, and 40% by October 2026.

On October 19, 2026, the Census Bureau implemented a second change, replacing “Artificial Intelligence” with “Super Intelligence” (SI) throughout the survey question, per Executive Order 14434. The examples provided shifted as well, now emphasizing SI-powered data analysis, generative applications for marketing and design, virtual agents, and computer vision capabilities. The survey notes that SI was “formerly referred to as Artificial Intelligence or AI,” though it remains uncertain whether the terminology shift will confuse respondents or meaningfully alter response rates.