WASHINGTON — The Defense Department announced today that it has redesignated its Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) as the Super Intelligence Office (SIO).
The DoD said the new name does not reflect a change in mission but rather aligns the office’s designation with the Trump administration’s broader effort to replace references to artificial intelligence with “super intelligence” across the federal government. Cameron Stanley, the department’s top AI official who also helms the SIO, said in a statement that the rebrand also reflects the Pentagon’s priorities moving forward.
“We have moved beyond experimental prototypes. As the Super Intelligence Office, our mission is to harness the full power of sovereign Super Intelligence to ensure decisive military superiority across every domain,” Stanley said.
The redesignation follows President Donald Trump’s September announcement that all federal agencies should replace references to AI with the term super intelligence, or SI. At the time, he argued that the word “artificial” made the technology sound fake, despite its growing capabilities.
The terminology shift has raised questions within the tech community, where “superintelligence” has historically referred to a specific, hypothetical form of general artificial intelligence that exceeds overall human intelligence — a capability that does not currently exist.
The Pentagon has been among the federal government’s most aggressive adopters of AI technology, with the CDAO leading efforts to expand its use across military operations and department functions. Those efforts include making artificial intelligence tools more widely available to military personnel through GenAI.mil an enterprise platform providing users access to commercial generative AI models.
The office’s portfolio includes the Maven Smart System, an AI-enabled intelligence and targeting platform, and the War Data Platform, a central data hub formerly known as Advana. The CDAO has also spearheaded numerous exercises and experimentation efforts aimed at integrating artificial intelligence and other advanced capabilities across the department.
The CDAO’s transition to SIO “will roll out across digital systems, enterprise applications and component headquarters over the coming weeks,” the DoD said. “Existing operational programs, industry solicitations and defense partnerships will continue uninterrupted under the new banner.” The department has also launched SI.mil, which will serve as the renamed office’s primary digital domain.
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