The AI boom has seen the number of '.ai' domains registered exceed one million, and Anguilla, which manages the domains, may have earned more than 10 billion yen in one year.
The number of registrations for the '.ai' domain, which is associated with AI, continues to grow along with the rise in AI-related services. The domain is managed by the British territory of Anguilla, and it has been pointed out that it may have earned more than 10 billion yen in 2025 alone.
There are now more than 1 million “.ai” websites, contributing an estimated $70 million to Anguilla's government revenue last year – Sherwood
The '.ai' domain is assigned to the British overseas territory of Anguilla as a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to countries and regions. Sherwood, a financial and cultural news site, reported that the number of '.ai' domain registrations surpassed one million in early January 2026, based on data from the domain statistics website Domain Name Stat . The graph below shows the year on the horizontal axis and the number of '.ai' domain registrations on the vertical axis.
The increase in '.ai' domain registrations is strongly linked to the AI boom, and since the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, companies and services seeking to promote an 'AI-like' feel have been adopting the '.ai' domain one after another. According to the International Monetary Fund, Anguilla earned 87 million East Caribbean dollars (approximately 4.5 billion yen) in 2023 from increased '.ai' domain registrations, accounting for more than 20% of government revenue.
The Anguilla government's 2026 budget speech (PDF file) also indicates that domain revenues are boosting the government's finances. The speech notes that non-taxable revenues are expected to exceed the initial budget by more than 40% and that the core of non-taxable revenues, 'sales of goods and services,' is expected to reach 260.52 million East Caribbean dollars (approximately 14.4 billion yen) by the end of fiscal year 2025. Furthermore, the speech notes that this 'sales of goods and services' includes registration fees for '.ai' domains, which contributed significantly to the strong results.
Using the figures from the budget speech as a clue, Sherwood calculated how much revenue the '.ai' domain would generate in 2025. His calculations showed that as of 2023, domain registration fees accounted for roughly 73% of revenue from the sale of goods and services. If that ratio remained the same, an estimated $70 million or more (approximately 10.8 billion yen) would come from the '.ai' domain.
Anguilla charges $140 (approximately ¥21,600) for a two-year '.ai' domain registration, and Sherwood says the renewal rate after two years is about 90%. Furthermore, auctions for expired '.ai' domains have also seen high-value transactions, with the domain name 'you.ai' selling for $700,000 (approximately ¥179 million) on Sedo, a marketplace that brokers the buying and selling of domain names.
Demand for '.ai' domains is likely to continue as long as the AI boom continues, but future revenues will depend on domain renewal rates, auction activity, and economic trends in the AI market. In any case, for Anguilla, the '.ai' domain represents a rare source of revenue for a small region tapping into global demand.
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