Key points
- .ai is Anguilla's country-code domain, delegated to the British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean (IANA).
- Identity Digital has run the registry since January 2025 (Wikipedia).
- Registration fees go to the Government of Anguilla: EC$230.5 million (about US$85.3 million) in 2025 (Anguilla Focus), and EC$217 million (about US$80 million) from January to July 2026, 47.5% of all government revenue (Jamaica Gleaner).
- About 1.28 million .ai names were registered in June 2026 (Wikipedia).
The country behind .ai
Every country and territory has a two-letter domain. .ai belongs to Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory of under 14,400 people in the Caribbean (Jamaica Gleaner). Its delegation is recorded by IANA, which lists whois.nic.ai and an RDAP service run by Identity Digital for the domain (IANA). Because "AI" also means artificial intelligence, the domain became one of the most sought-after on the internet.
Who runs the registry
Identity Digital, a large domain registry company, has managed .ai since January 2025 (Wikipedia). Registrars such as Namecheap, GoDaddy and Cloudflare sell .ai names to the public and pass the registration to the registry. When .ai moved to its current system on 16 December 2017, every existing name was migrated, which is why many older names show that date as their creation date (Wikipedia).
Where the money goes
| Period | .ai revenue to Anguilla | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | About US$32 million | Wikipedia |
| 2025 | EC$230.5 million (about US$85.3 million) | Anguilla Focus |
| January–July 2026 | EC$217 million (about US$80 million), 47.5% of government revenue | Jamaica Gleaner |
| 2026 forecast | EC$253 million for the full year | Jamaica Gleaner |
Registration fees go to the government's treasury (Wikipedia). The International Monetary Fund expects domain revenue to settle at a lower share of total revenue as the initial rush slows (Jamaica Gleaner).
How many .ai names there are
.ai passed one million registrations in January 2026 (Anguilla Focus) and reached about 1.28 million by June 2026 (Wikipedia). Domain Name Wire notes that the registry has published statistics less often since Identity Digital took over (Domain Name Wire).
Who owns a particular .ai domain
Individual names belong to whoever registered them. To find out who holds a specific name, when it was registered and when it expires, see how to find out who owns a .ai domain, or look the company up in our directory.
Questions
- Which country owns .ai?
- Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. .ai is its country-code top-level domain.
- Who runs the .ai registry?
- Identity Digital, since January 2025. Names are sold to the public through registrars.
- How much does Anguilla earn from .ai?
- EC$230.5 million (about US$85.3 million) in 2025, and EC$217 million (about US$80 million) in January–July 2026, 47.5% of government revenue in that period.
- How many .ai domains are there?
- About 1.28 million as of June 2026.
Sources
- IANA: Delegation record for .AI
- Wikipedia: .ai
- Anguilla Focus: .ai domain surge brings EC$230m windfall to Anguilla in 2025 (25 Mar 2026)
- Jamaica Gleaner: Anguilla's AI domain registration earns US$80m year-to-date (9 Oct 2026)
- Domain Name Wire: The coming .ai junk drop (29 Jun 2026)
- Directory figures are computed from aidomaindata's listings, each linked to its own sources
Written by aidomaindata from the sources above. For information only, not financial or legal advice. Spot a mistake? Email hello@aidomaindata.com and we'll review it within two working days.