AI summary
- Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton has been chosen to lead a new White House task force called the Super Intelligence Force, or SI.
- The force has 120 days to assess the risks and opportunities of the technology, and its charter allows that period to be extended.
- Its members include Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, which keeps the SI label in official use for months.
- It doesn't force private companies or other countries to drop AI, and the policy line is still voluntary industry self-regulation.
- For .si buyers it's a reason to watch the October registry figures, not a reason to buy on impulse: most .si names are speculation and the aftermarket is small.
What happened: SI gets a task force
The SI story moved on this week. On 3 October, Storyboard18 reported, citing The Wall Street Journal, that Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton has been selected to lead a new White House task force called the "Super Intelligence Force", or SI. A senior White House official described the appointment as making him the administration's AI czar.
The group has 120 days to assess the risks and opportunities of the technology and recommend how much responsibility the federal government should take in overseeing it. Finance.biggo reports that Trump signed an executive order setting up the force, and that its charter lets the work run beyond 120 days if necessary.
I've already written about the renaming order and the industry accord, so I won't repeat that here. This post is about something different: the SI label now has a standing body, a chair and a deadline attached to it. That's worth thinking about if you're weighing a .si domain.
Who's on the Super Intelligence Force
According to finance.biggo, it isn't a small advisory panel. The core members include Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. There are three vice chairs:
- Emil Michael, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, coordinating with AI companies.
- Scott Kupor, Director of the Office of Personnel Management, liaising with critical infrastructure operators and other industry stakeholders.
- Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the FTC, covering consumer interests and issues related to religion, children, privacy, speech and freedom of association.
External advisers include David Sacks, the former AI czar, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who'll advise on national security matters.
Clayton's own framing is about the race with rivals. "The risk of not being first is very high," he said in an interview reported by finance.biggo.
Why a 120-day clock matters for the SI name
One of my earlier posts asked whether SI will stick. The honest answer is still that nobody knows, but this week's news nudges the odds a little. A name used in a single executive order can fade quietly. A name that's also the title of a task force whose members include the Vice President, with a report due in roughly four months, will keep turning up in headlines, briefings and official papers for at least that long.
That matters because the September 29 order already tells the executive branch to use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in place of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI". New York Magazine quoted it as applying to "official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents, and other non-statutory documents within the executive branch." The task force's report is exactly that kind of document, so you'd expect it to use SI throughout.
What it doesn't change
Don't read too much into it. New York Magazine points out that Trump can't force people, foreign governments or private companies to stop saying "artificial intelligence". The order covers the federal government, not the rest of the world, and it certainly doesn't cover the businesses that would buy your domain.
Abroad, the signal is mixed. Xi Jinping stuck with "AI" in his own remarks, though China's Foreign Ministry later said it "respects the U.S. side's wording." That's polite, but it isn't an adoption.
The policy direction hasn't changed either. Storyboard18 notes that Trump has resisted calls for tighter regulation and backed voluntary industry measures instead. Finance.biggo says the force will work with industry to identify risks but won't replace corporate self-regulatory mechanisms. So this is a naming and coordination story. I don't see it as a sign that a new rulebook is coming.
What the .si registry numbers say
The News International reported that 11,000 new .si addresses were registered on Wednesday 30 September alone, against roughly a thousand a month for most of the past year. According to Slovenia's regulator, ARNES, the total stood at around 219,800 by Tuesday morning. A spokeswoman, Klara Herman, said September was "extremely" different from other months but didn't link it to Trump.
The same report says it isn't clear whether the surge is temporary or permanent, and suggests watching the registry's October figures. I agree. A task force that keeps SI in the news through the winter is one reason demand might hold, but it's no guarantee, and a lot of those new registrations will be speculators hoping to resell.
Should you buy a .si name because of this?
Probably not because of this news alone. Most .si names are speculation, and the aftermarket for them is small. A task force with a 120-day deadline keeps the term alive for a while; it doesn't create end buyers.
Before you spend anything, run three questions:
- Are the .com and .ai taken or expensive? If the .com is available at a fair price, buy the .com. It's the better asset for almost every business.
- Is it a generic name, not a brand? Plain words only. Never a copy of one company's name, and I'd avoid anything built on a government body's title too.
- Do people search for it? Real search volume means there's an audience beyond domain investors.
If a name passes all three, a .si can be a sensible, cheaper alternative. A few from my inventory fit the trust and future-of-people questions the task force is meant to examine:
- liedetector.si, $3,000: 60,500 searches a month, the .ai is listed at $65,000 and the .com has been held since 1998.
- futurehuman.si, $1,500: 5,400 searches a month, the .ai is listed at $290,000 and the .com has been held since 1999.
- greatmind.si, $2,000: 33,100 searches a month and the .com is listed at $500,000. The .ai is for sale with price on request, so it's worth asking that price before you decide.
If you're unsure, wait for the October registry figures. You won't lose much by watching for a month. You can see the full list at aidomains.si.
Names from this store that pass the test
Questions
What is the Super Intelligence Force?
It's a new White House task force, also called SI, led by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton. It has 120 days to assess the risks and opportunities of the technology and recommend the federal government's role.
Who sits on the task force?
Finance.biggo reports that members include Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Emil Michael, Scott Kupor and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson are vice chairs, with David Sacks and Condoleezza Rice as external advisers.
Does the SI order apply to private companies?
No. New York Magazine notes that Trump can't force people, foreign governments or private companies to stop saying artificial intelligence; the order covers the executive branch.
How many .si domains were registered after the order?
The News International reported 11,000 new .si registrations on 30 September alone, against roughly a thousand a month for most of the past year. ARNES put the total at around 219,800 by that Tuesday morning.
Sources
- Storyboard18, 2026-10-03
- finance.biggo, 2026-10-03
- New York Magazine, 2026-09-29
- The News International, 2026-10-01
This post was researched and drafted with AI help from the sources above, then checked by me before publishing. Facts are as reported on the dates shown.