USB-IF, short for USB Implementers Forum, is the nonprofit industry group responsible for developing, publishing and maintaining the USB specifications. Its members include the major technology companies that build the chips, cables and devices that rely on USB, and the group's decisions shape everything from connector shapes to power limits.
USB-IF also runs the compliance and certification programme that lets manufacturers test their products and use official USB logos, and it maintains the marketing names used for speed tiers, such as SuperSpeed and the USB 5Gbps, 10Gbps, 20Gbps, 40Gbps and 80Gbps labels that replaced the more technical generation numbers for consumers.
Understanding that USB-IF sets the rules helps explain why USB terminology can feel inconsistent over time: naming conventions have changed more than once to make speeds easier to compare at a glance. See our overview of USB standards for how the different generations line up.