Anguilla has “no basis for unnecessary alarm” over United States president Donald Trump’s proposal to replace the term artificial intelligence (AI) with super intelligence (SI).
The assurance came from information technology minister Jose Vanterpool, following public concerns about a possible threat to the island’s .ai country-code domain registration revenues.
He said the change is only with the US federal government’s terminology and will not affect Anguilla’s ownership of the domain nor require existing users to change their web addresses.
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“I want to reassure the general public that at this stage we have no reason to believe that this announcement poses an immediate threat to Anguilla’s .ai domain industry,” Vanterpool said.
Trump first proposed replacing artificial intelligence with super intelligence during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 22 September.
He later signed an executive order on 29 September directing US federal agencies to adopt the new terminology in official communications.
On 8 October, on his social media page on Truth Social he declared that anyone continuing to use the term artificial intelligence was “the enemy”.
During a press conference on 12 October, Vanterpool said it is understandable that some people have questioned whether the development poses a threat given the “significant contribution” of .ai.
“Over the years, .ai has established itself globally as a recognised digital identity, with businesses investing significantly in their brands, websites and online presence,” he said.
He added: “It is highly unlikely that any business who actively uses its .ai domain will switch and affect their brand simply based on the statements that were made.”
Vanterpool stressed that an established market does not disappear due to a proposed change in terminology, and said Anguilla has not experienced any shift away from sales.
“In fact, sales in September have been up from sales in August since the announcement was made,” he said.
The minister said registrations for .si – Slovenia’s country-code domain – had increased, but stressed that this does not mean registrations for .ai are declining.
“Both domains could experience growth simultaneously as the broader technology industry expands,” he said.
He reassured the public that there is “no basis for unnecessary alarm” and said a reputable newspaper in the United Kingdom said Trump’s push to rebrand the technology is falling flat.
“So again, that further assures us that at this time we have nothing to worry about in terms of SI threatening our market dominance in the AI space,” Vanterpool said.
