What Is the American SI Exports Program?

The American SI Exports Program is a U.S. Department of Commerce program that helps American companies sell complete AI technology packages abroad, from chips and data centers to models and applications, with government advocacy, export-licensing priority and help reaching federal financing. It was launched as the American AI Exports Program and took its new name after Executive Order 14434, which told federal agencies to say “Super Intelligence” instead of “AI.”

The rename changed the label, not the program. “SI” here is the federal label for AI, so the packages are the same AI hardware, cloud, models and software the program was built to promote. Nothing in them is Super Intelligence in the research sense. Our guide on Super Intelligence vs AI explains the difference.

At a glance

Fact	Detail	Basis
Created by	Executive Order 14320, July 23, 2025	Executive order
Run by	Commerce’s International Trade Administration, with State, War, Energy and the White House science office reviewing proposals	ITA
What it does	Designates industry-led consortia that offer “full-stack” AI packages to foreign buyers	Federal Register
First call	April 1 to June 30, 2026	ITA
Applications	78	ITA, July 2026
Designations	None announced as of October 24, 2026	SI Builders check of Commerce announcements
Renamed	American SI Exports Program, by October 20, 2026	Nextgov/FCW, siexports.gov
Website	siexports.gov (aiexports.gov redirects there)	siexports.gov; redirect checked by SI Builders, Oct 24, 2026

Where it came from

The program was set up by Executive Order 14320, “Promoting the Export of the American AI Technology Stack,” signed on July 23, 2025, alongside the White House’s AI Action Plan. The order calls AI “a foundational technology that will define the future of economic growth” and sets a policy to “preserve and extend American leadership in AI” while reducing other countries’ reliance on AI technology from U.S. adversaries.

It gave the Secretary of Commerce 90 days to create the program, working with the Secretary of State and the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. It also gave the State Department a coordinating role over money: the Economic Diplomacy Action Group, chaired by the Secretary of State, is to line up federal financing tools such as direct loans, loan guarantees, equity, political risk insurance and technical assistance behind priority packages.

How it works

Full-stack packages. The program does not back single products. It designates consortia, groups of companies that together offer a complete stack. The April 2026 call for proposals defines five layers:

1. AI-optimized hardware, including data center storage, cloud and networking
2. Data pipelines and labeling systems
3. AI models and systems
4. Security and cybersecurity
5. Sector-specific or functional AI applications

Two kinds of consortium. A pre-set consortium is a standing team that can deliver the whole stack and keeps a ready-made offering for any buyer. An on-demand consortium is assembled for a specific deal the program identifies and covers only the layers that deal needs. The first call, which ran from April 1 to June 30, 2026, was for pre-set consortia; the on-demand track is still marked “coming soon”.

Who can apply. Each consortium names an anchor member, which submits the proposal and is the program’s single point of contact. The anchor must be organized under U.S. law with its main place of business in the United States. The call sets further conditions:

• no member, subcontractor or local partner may be based in, or majority-owned from, a “country of concern”;
• hardware should be at least 51 percent U.S. content by value;
• AI model owners should be at least 51 percent owned and controlled by U.S. persons, with a separate path for open-weight models;
• in exceptional cases, a foreign “national champion” company can take part, but only in packages aimed at its own country.

Review. Commerce aims to check a proposal for completeness within 14 business days and decide on designation within 60 days after that, following review with the Departments of State, War and Energy and the White House science office.

What designation brings. A designated package can receive priority government-to-government advocacy, opportunities to be presented at program events, priority consideration in export-control matters, and faster routing to federal financing agencies. The Federal Register notice is explicit about what designation does not guarantee: an export license, financing or insurance, any particular advocacy, a foreign buyer’s choice or a contract. Elsewhere it states that designation confers no antitrust immunity and that proposal costs will not be reimbursed.

Timeline

Date	What happened	Basis
Jul 23, 2025	Executive Order 14320 creates the program	Executive order
Oct 21, 2025	Commerce announces implementation and a request for information	ITA
Dec 16, 2025	Commerce announces the end of the request-for-information phase, thanking “hundreds of respondents”	ITA
Jan 2026	Commerce plans a national AI center in San Francisco	Bloomberg
Mar 2026	The center opens; Commerce announces the call for proposals	Federal News Network, ITA
Apr 1, 2026	Application window opens	ITA
Apr 10, 2026	Rules published in the Federal Register	Federal Register
Jun 30, 2026	Application window closes	ITA
Jul 6, 2026	Commerce reports 78 applications	ITA
Sep 29, 2026	Executive Order 14434 directs agencies to use “SI”	Executive order
By Oct 20, 2026	Program operating as the American SI Exports Program at siexports.gov	Nextgov/FCW, siexports.gov

Who applied

Commerce received 78 applications in the first round and said each would be reviewed against the published criteria before the Secretary of Commerce issues “final designation determinations” after interagency consultation. It has not published the applicants. Amazon Web Services has confirmed it is one, and an official said several small companies also applied, ProMarket reported. On the rules’ own timetable, a complete proposal filed by the June 30 deadline would have expected a decision well before now. We have found no announced designations as of October 24, 2026.

The rename

The State Department confirmed the new name in a department-wide cable in October, which says the American AI Exports Program is now the American SI Exports Program, citing an earlier cable, Nextgov/FCW reported. The program’s website now describes it as the “national accelerator for Super Intelligence (SI) business opportunities,” the old aiexports.gov address redirects to siexports.gov (checked by SI Builders on October 24, 2026), and Commerce’s San Francisco office appears as the National SI Center, “the primary national gateway for American Super Intelligence (SI) companies.”

What did not change:

• The legal basis. Executive Order 14320 is still titled “Promoting the Export of the American AI Technology Stack.” Executive Order 14434 does not require existing presidential actions or regulations to be rewritten.
• The rules. The eligibility criteria, review clocks and benefits are those published in the Federal Register in April under the old name. We found no new notice.
• The technology. Under Executive Order 14434, “SI” means what the statutory definition of AI already covers. A designated “SI package” is a package of AI technology.

The renaming has not been entirely consistent. The State cable says the published titles of existing presidential actions and programs, such as America’s AI Action Plan, keep their names. Commerce’s National SI Center page, however, describes the center and the exports program as implementing “President Trump’s SI Action Plan.” Our tracker of agency changes records this and other renamings.

The debate

Supporters present the program as a way to win markets with trusted American technology. Announcing the call for proposals, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said “By promoting full-stack American solutions, we are strengthening our economic and national security,” and White House science adviser Michael Kratsios described it as turning “President Trump’s vision for sharing a trusted, sovereign AI stack with the world into action.”

Critics have raised two concerns. Writing in ProMarket, Virginia Tech researcher Javaid Sofi argues that because anchor firms choose their partners, “The program’s design risks favoring large American tech firms,” and proposes opening the on-demand track and publishing consortium membership. From Europe, Maximilian Gahntz of the Global Public Policy Institute argues that the program is aimed mainly at countering Chinese influence in the Global South, and that European governments should decide which parts of the AI stack they want to depend on.

Open questions

• When will designations come, and who gets them? Commerce has not given a date or said how many it will make.
• When will the on-demand track open? It is the route most likely to include smaller firms.
• Will the program’s formal documents be reissued under the new name? So far the rename is on the website and in State’s cables, not in the Federal Register.
• What happens to contracts and financing documents? The State cable excluded contracts and grants from the rename pending further guidance.

How this page is maintained

Every claim links to a dated source, preferring the program’s own announcements and the Federal Register. We say when a fact comes from reporting rather than from Commerce. This page was first published on 2026-10-24 and is updated when Commerce announces designations, opens a new call or changes the rules. Corrections and additions, with sources, to corrections@sibuilders.io.