Since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, .ai domain registrations have grown exponentially. Registry prices continue to climb.

Historically, this is the third major demand concentration on a specific TLD — following the early .com era (1995–2000) and the .io surge (2014–2018). Past cases diverge into two trajectories: “staple” status or “saturation followed by decline.”

Which path .ai follows depends on the sustainability of the AI industry itself. At present, the structural growth of AI suggests a trajectory closer to .com’s “staple” outcome. However, the high maintenance cost of roughly $100/year could exert selection pressure.

For the government of Anguilla, .ai registry revenue has become a non-trivial share of the national budget — creating the unusual dynamic of a domain sustaining a national economy.