Leidos used to be part of SAIC. In 2013, it was spun out as a new company from Science Applications International Corporation, while the SAIC name stayed with the remaining, more limited business.

What changed

  • Before 2013: the business was inside Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC.
  • 2013: Leidos was created as the separated company.
  • After the split: the remaining company kept the SAIC name and focused more narrowly on government IT services.

Why it feels confusing

A lot of the confusion comes from the fact that SAIC and Leidos are related historically, but they became separate companies. So when people say “Leidos used to be SAIC,” they usually mean the earlier corporate lineage, not that Leidos simply renamed itself overnight.

TL;DR

Leidos was spun out of SAIC in 2013, and SAIC continued as a separate company.