.ai is continuing its rapid growth, with the number of registered domains expected to surpass one million in the first quarter of 2026.
The milestone highlights the increasing global interest in Anguilla’s country-code domain, particularly from tech companies and startups leveraging artificial intelligence.
Information technology minister José Vanterpool announced the latest registration figures and growth projections during a government press conference on 10 November.
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He said EC$21.57 million (~US$8.05 million) was collected from sales in October – bringing the year to date total to EC$189.58 million (~US$70.15 million).
This has already far surpassed 2024’s year end total of $104.25 million by more than $85 million, and more than doubled 2023’s total of $86.83 million.
Vanterpool said that as of 26 October, more than 908,000 .ai domains had been registered, growing at a rate of about 1% per week and on track to surpass one million by the first quarter of 2026.
“Over 10,000 new domains were registered just last week alone, consistent with the performance of the previous week,” he added.
Vanterpool said that gross revenue from those registrations totalled about EC$5.35 million (US$1.98 million), with new domains accounting for 73% of overall earnings.
Meanwhile, last week’s auction performance revenue amounted to about EC$227,000 or US$84,000.
“The data is currently pointing towards a 64.7% renewal rate for existing .ai domains, which is a positive indicator for future revenue growth,” he added.
This November, 4,850 .ai domains are due for renewal, with projections indicating that figure could rise to around 7,100 in the coming months.
Most of these domains are likely to be renewed or to go to auction “which is also a positive indicator based on the strong and growing auction revenue performance”, Vanterpool said.
In a recently concluded auction, one single .ai domain sold for EC$1.09 million or US$405,000.
The minister said a team from Identity Digital, the US company responsible for managing the .ai domain, will visit the island later this week to meet with government officials and other key stakeholders.
Discussions will focus on the domain’s performance to date and strategies to strengthen growth, maximise revenues, and ensure continued benefits for the government and people of Anguilla.
