It’s all about .ai: a guide to this booming TLD

In October 2023, a record-breaking sale made headlines in the world of domains, and, for once, the fuss was not all about a .com. The domain name You.ai sold for a whopping $700,000 through domain marketplace Sedo, ranking it lightyears ahead of all other ccTLD (country-code top-level domain) transactions this year. And the seller of this record-breaking name is not the only one profiting off the .ai extension this year. The government of Anguilla, the tiny island state that manages the extension, expects to gain millions in revenue from .ai domain registrations this year.

It is clear that .ai is booming. In this article, we will delve a little more into the backstory of this trendy domain extension that has been propelled to the forefront of the Internet in 2023. On top of that, we will be making the case for registering a .ai domain name over a more generic .com or .net, especially now that many great domain names are still up for grabs – making them an excellent choice for both the tech-savvy entrepreneur and the forward-thinking domain investor.

A brief history of .ai

The .ai domain extension was allocated to the state of Anguilla on February 16, 1995 – nearly a decade after the launch of the first TLDs. Initially, domain registrations were only available under four second-level domains: .com.ai, .net.ai, .org.ai, and .off.ai. On September 15, 2009, the government of Anguilla lifted these restrictions. Registrations right under the top-level domain became available to everyone around the world.

Despite this newfound accessibility, the .ai domain extension experienced only moderate popularity until 2022. This was a year marked by the launch of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney. Between May 2022 and May 2023, .ai registrations went up by an impressive 156% compared to the year before. And its wave has not crested yet, as this growth appears to be continuing steadily as 2023 progresses. While the future can never be predicted, AI is firmly part of the mainstream now, which could be a positive sign of the ongoing demand for this extension. 

Why register a .ai domain name?

If you are creating a website or starting a business in AI, there are many reasons why you should opt for a .ai domain name. Here are the most important ones:

• It’s short and memorable. .ai packs a punch with just two letters. Short URLs in general tend to be more memorable to website visitors and potential customers. On top of that, a .ai domain has the added benefit of immediately making clear what your website is about.
• It makes your website stand out.: As a newer, non-standard extension, .ai will make your website stand out in a sea of .com and .net. Using this domain extension shows that you are on top of the trends and not afraid to take a risk.
• Less competition. As of October 2023, there are “only” around 200,000 registered .ai domain names. Compared to over 250 million .coms, 21 million .nets, and 17 million .orgs, that’s not a lot! This also means that there are still many strong and memorable names available with .ai.
• Positive effects on SEO. If the word “AI” is somewhere in your company’s name, using a .ai domain name could even help improve your SEO results. Good to know: Google also treats .ai like a gTLD. This means that your website will have no problem showing up in search queries performed by users outside of Anguilla.

Register your .ai domain name at Openprovider

In September 2023, Openprovider became an accredited registrar of .ai. This means that you can directly register your .ai domains with us. You can register .ai domain names for an initial period of two years. After this, they can be renewed indefinitely for two years at a time. Domain names should be between 3-63 characters in length and may contain letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), and hyphens. Registrations are open to everyone. Registration prices at Openprovider start at $140 for two years.

Are you ready to take the plunge? Check if your desired .ai domain name is still available and register yours today!