As Vessbot stated well, it is total energy state, I have been at 45,000’, pointed straight up, with 0 airspeed in an F-16, the least of my worries at that time was the airspeed my aircraft.
Three speed warnings. Two which I believed to be either spurious or extraordinarily conservative (that statement will certainly aggravate some, but after 36 years of flying, I believe I have a pretty good understanding of the energy state of my aircraft - I have not and would never maneuver a commercial aircraft aggressively)
All that said, the time I believed the warning which was valid was what I described and my FO’s instinctive reaction to it, which was inappropriate. His response was to add 10 knots to the SEL speed, because the airplane announced, “Speed, speed, speed.”. The warning is based on the current energy state and the FAC’s expected energy state of the aircraft. His reaction was incorrect.
Airbus designed this to focus the pilots attention on the energy state of the aircraft, yet the callout was speed thus my OP.