The .ai domain is a small island’s country code that happened to spell the name of a technology boom. This guide covers what the letters mean, who runs it, how registration works and what it earns. Every source below was checked on 1 November 2026. For prices and recent sales, see recent .ai domain sales.
What does .ai stand for?
Officially, nothing to do with computers. The Jamaica Gleaner (9 October 2026) explains that in the mid-1980s it was decided “that country-code domains would follow the two-letter codes in the ISO 3166-1 standard, which covers dependent territories as well as sovereign states. Anguilla, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, was assigned the code ‘AI’.” In the paper’s words, “Anguilla ended up with the .ai domain by coincidence rather than design.”
The extension is old. IANA’s records show .ai was created on 16 February 1995. The IANA root zone entry for .ai lists it as a “Country-code top-level domain” with status “Active”, managed by the “Government of Anguilla”.
Today the registry markets the letters for their second meaning. Its site, nic.ai, says .ai was “Established as the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla” and “has evolved into a globally-recognized symbol of innovation.” PYMNTS lists perplexity.ai, claude.ai, x.ai and meta.ai among its users.
Which country runs .ai, and who operates the registry?
Anguilla does. A partnership release of 15 October 2024 says the government “is responsible for the overall management and operations” of .ai, and that “Identity Digital has forged a partnership with Anguilla to manage the .ai extension.” The Jamaica Gleaner adds that Identity Digital “manages sales under a five-year agreement signed in October 2024.”
So Identity Digital, a US company, does not own .ai. It runs the registry “under the supervision of GOA”, as its own newsroom puts it.
Domain Name Wire reported on 23 January 2025 that “Identity Digital completed the transition of Anguilla’s .ai namespace to its registry platform.” Ram Mohan of Identity Digital said existing domains were extended “by 2 years on Jan. 15, 2025, upon completion of the migration”. The move also brought back creation and expiry dates in WHOIS records, “which had been previously removed.” How the income is split is reported only by the press: Gulf News (1 September 2025) said “Anguilla keeps most of the cash, with Identity Digital snagging about 10%.”
Who can register a .ai domain, and how
The registry does not sell direct: “Find .ai wherever you purchase domains.” Its pages state no residency rule or minimum term; registrars such as Porkbun and Dynadot do:
- Anyone can register. Dynadot: “Anyone worldwide can register a .AI domain, with no residency or local presence requirements.”
- Two years minimum. Porkbun: “.AI Domains require a minimum term of 2 years for registration and renewals. .AI transfers include a 2 year renewal.”
- Plain characters only. Dynadot says names are “between 1-63 characters long” and use letters, numbers and hyphens, with no internationalised domain names supported.
On cost, Ram Mohan said “Pricing will be determined by the registrar of choice”, so it varies by registrar. The registry’s FAQ (last updated 24 April 2025) says it follows the UDRP, covered in domain name dispute resolution. Registrants “may make their registration data private” through a privacy or proxy service. And “Access to the .ai zone file is currently paused.”
How fast .ai registrations have grown
The registry FAQ carries a series “published by the previous technical service provider for .ai”. Later totals come from the press.
| Date | .ai domains registered | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2 July 2018 | 48,272 | nic.ai FAQ |
| 7 January 2020 | 85,596 | nic.ai FAQ |
| 1 July 2021 | 123,651 | nic.ai FAQ |
| 14 June 2023 | 248,609 | nic.ai FAQ |
| 20 December 2023 | 353,928 | nic.ai FAQ |
| 1 October 2024 | 533,068 | nic.ai FAQ |
| 2 January 2025 | 598,007 | nic.ai FAQ |
| September 2025 | “nearly 880,000” | Semafor, 3 September 2025 |
| January 2026 | passed one million | Jamaica Gleaner, 9 October 2026 |
The steepest stretch began in 2023. Registrations roughly doubled between June 2023 and October 2024. PYMNTS (29 April 2026) reported “roughly 2,000 new registrations per day in January”. For how .ai compares with .com and the other big extensions, see the domain name market.
How much money Anguilla makes from .ai
The figures mix budgets, outturns and part-year totals. IMF figures are as reported by Gulf News, not read from the IMF report. EC$ is the Eastern Caribbean dollar.
| Year | .ai revenue | Share of government revenue | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 2023 | Not given | “hovered around 5%” | IMF, as reported by Gulf News, 1 Sep 2025 |
| 2023 | EC$87m (about US$32m) | “just over 20%” | IMF, as reported by Gulf News, 1 Sep 2025 |
| 2024 | EC$105.5m (US$39m) | 23% of the budget | IMF, as reported by Gulf News, 1 Sep 2025 |
| 2025 (expected) | US$48.8m | Not given | Semafor, 3 Sep 2025 |
| 2025 (actual) | EC$230m (US$85.3m) | Not given | Anguilla Focus, 25 Mar 2026 |
| January to July 2026 | EC$217m (US$80m) | 47.5% | Jamaica Gleaner, 9 Oct 2026 |
| 2026 (expected, full year) | EC$253m | Not given | Jamaica Gleaner, 9 Oct 2026 |
The government’s own release also put 2023 at “20 percent of the government’s total revenue”. In her address posted on 23 September 2026, Premier Cora Richardson Hodge said domain fees had raised “47.5 per cent of all government revenue to date”. The Gleaner noted the EC$217m was more than the EC$203m in tax raised by the territory’s entire productive sector.
The money has helped fund airport and road projects, according to the Gleaner, which also reports that the IMF “said the government expects domain revenue to stabilise at a lower share of total revenue as the initial rush of registrations slows.”
What this means if you own or buy a .ai name
Renewals come in two-year blocks. Registrars such as Porkbun say the minimum applies to renewals as well as new registrations, so budget for two years at a time. General advice on comparing renewal costs is in domain renewal price.
A country-code domain answers to its government. The registry FAQ states that “The Government of Anguilla may, at any time and without limitation, deny, suspend, cancel, redirect, or transfer any registration”. The registry deal runs for five years from October 2024, and the last change of provider moved every domain to a new platform. None of this suggests trouble for ordinary owners. Whether the extension helps or hurts rankings is a separate question, covered in domain extension SEO.
Check the registration date before you buy. Because WHOIS creation dates are back since the 2025 migration, you can see how old a .ai name really is. The Domain Age Checker gives the registration date and true age for up to 20 domains, with a flag for names that were dropped and re-registered. Many .ai names were registered only in the last few years, so a seller’s “aged” claim is worth confirming.
Frequently asked questions
Which country does the .ai domain belong to?
Anguilla, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. IANA lists the Government of Anguilla as the manager of .ai.
Does Identity Digital own .ai?
No. Identity Digital runs the registry and its sales under a five-year agreement signed in October 2024, under the supervision of the Government of Anguilla.
Do I need to live in Anguilla to register a .ai domain?
No. Registrars such as Dynadot say anyone worldwide can register, with no residency or local presence requirements. Registrars also state a two-year minimum term.
How much does .ai earn Anguilla?
EC$230m (US$85.3m) in 2025, according to Anguilla Focus, and EC$217m between January and July 2026, 47.5% of government revenue, according to the Premier as reported by the Jamaica Gleaner.
The takeaway .ai is Anguilla’s country code, run by its government with Identity Digital as the technical registry, and domain fees raised 47.5% of government revenue from January to July 2026. If you are buying an established name rather than registering a new one, browse aged domains on the SERPHeroes marketplace, where each listing shows its registry age.
