Introduced | 16 February 1995 |
---|---|
TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
Status | Active |
Registry | Offshore Information Services |
Sponsor | Government of Anguilla |
Intended use | Entities connected with ![]() |
Actual use | Some use in Anguilla. Also popular with companies working in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. |
Registered domains | 114,068 (December 2021)[1] |
Registration restrictions | None |
Structure | Registrations possible at third level, beneath several second-level labels, are available to anybody; second-level registrations are now available to anybody as well (as of 26 June 2006). |
Registry website | Nic.com.ai |
.ai is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is administered by the government of Anguilla.
It is popular with companies in and projects related to the artificial intelligence industry (AI).[2][3][4]
Second and third level registrations
Registrations within off.ai, com.ai, net.ai, and org.ai are available unrestrictedly, worldwide. From September 15, 2009, second level registrations within .ai are available to everyone worldwide.
Registration
The minimum registration term allowed for .AI domain is 2 years for registration and 2 years for renewal. The authority in charge of managing this extension is “WHOIS.AI”. Registrations began on 1995-02-16. The minimum length is 2 and the maximum is 63 characters. There are no requirements for registering domain, anybody can register them, local and foreign residents.
AI domain can be suspended or revoked, if the domain is based on some illegal activity, such as violating trademarks or copyrights. The usage must not violate the laws of Anguilla.[5]
Anguilla uses the UDRP. Filing a UDRP challenge requires using one of the ICANN Approved Dispute Resolution Service Providers. If the domain is with an ICANN accredited registrar, they should work with the arbitrator. Usually this means either doing nothing or transferring a domain. .ai domains are transferable to any desired registrars as the registration of domain is done maintaining EPP.[6]
The character set supported by .ai domain include A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and hyphen. As of November 2021, .ai domains don't accommodate IDN characters. The auction of expired .ai domain is undertaken every ten days where expired domains can be procured through the auction process.[7]
Valuation
Domains are $100 for each two-year period. As of November 2021, the ".ai" registry supports Extensible Provisioning Protocol. Consequently, many registrars are allowed to sell ".ai" domains. Since then, the .ai ccTLD has also been popular with artificial intelligence companies and organizations. Though such trends are primarily seen among new AI based companies or startups. Many established AI and Tech companies preferred not to opt for .ai domain. For example, DeepMind has its domain retained at .com; Facebook has redirected its facebook.ai domain to ai.facebook.com.[8]
As of November 2021, expert.ai is the most valued .ai domain that has been sold ever. The sell was brokered and mediated by Sedo in June 2020 and was finalized at €95,000 (about $108,000).[9][10]
Impact on Anguilla's Economy
The registration fees earned from the .ai domains go to the treasury of Government of Anguilla. As per a New York Times report, in 2018, the total revenue generated out of selling .ai domains was $2.9 million.[11][12]
See also
References
- ^ ".AI Whois – Domain Search in Anguilla". whois.marcaria.com. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ^ Purnell, Newley; Olson, Parmy (August 14, 2019). "AI Startup Boom Raises Questions of Exaggerated Tech Savvy". Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2020 – via www.wsj.com.
- ^ "What's in a Name? Trends in Creating Robot and AI Company Names". Robotics Business Review. June 12, 2019.
- ^ Tung, Liam. "Why one tiny island is still a domain name giant". ZDNet.
- ^ ".AI Domain". domaintyper.com. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ "Whois ai". whois.ai. Archived from the original on 2020-04-30. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ^ ".ai Domain Auctions | auction.whois.ai". auction.whois.ai. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ^ Chawla, Vishal (2020-03-08). "Is .AI Domain Name Extension Any Valuable For AI Startups Or Just A Marketing Ploy?". Analytics India Magazine. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ^ "Why .AI domain name has become so popular?". www.nominus.com. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ^ "Expert.ai domain sells for record €95,000". Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News. 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ^ Lohr, Steve (2020-02-04). "Tropical Breezes, Pristine Beaches and a Domain Name to Die For". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ^ Lohr, Steve. "Anguilla, with its domain name, cashes in on a quirky trend". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2021-11-10.