.AI is the country code extension (ccTLD) for the Caribbean country of Anguilla. Domain names with the .AI extension were originally created to give people in Anguilla their own home online. In the last couple of years, .AI domain names have become popular outside of Anguilla because AI is the abbreviation for Artificial Intelligence. Billions of dollars in funding has been given to AI-related startups, and I have noticed many startups in the field of AI are using .AI domain names.
As a result of the broadened usage of .AI domain names, the value of .AI domain names has taken off. More .AI domain names are selling on the aftermarket, and auction prices for .AI domain names have climbed. YTD, NameBio has recorded more than $3.3m worth of publicly reported .AI domain name sales.
I missed the boat for .AI domain names and do not have a single one in my portfolio. Because of the climbing prices and higher renewal and registration costs compared to .com domain names, I doubt I will go chasing any.
This morning, InterNetX published a comprehensive look at .AI domain names. The article dives deep into the history of .AI domain names and how the registrations of .AI domain names benefit the country and people of Anguilla.
The article gives an overview of the .AI domain name aftermarket, which has grown quite a bit this past year:
“The graph below illustrates the remarkable growth in the volume of .ai domain sales. As of June 2023, sales have surged tremendously, surpassing the combined figures of 2021 and 2022. This seemingly unstoppable upward trend shows no signs of slowing down.”
The InterNetX article gives a solid overview of the state of the .AI market.
Not a fan of .Ai but it’s a better domain extension than .io and .xyz that other domainers chased.
Dot BS is the best dot whatever extension.
It relates to everything anything and to everyone
It would be nice to have a positive extension, like the folks at booking•com joked about (booking•yeah)