AI is a top-level domain (TLD) within the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS). DNS is managed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), a component of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It’s responsible for the global coordination of identifiers on the internet that includes Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and domain names, including .AI.
The .AI domain name is classified as a country code top-level domain (ccTLD), and is the internet country code for Anguilla, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean (IANA, 2021). Did you know? The TLD .AI has become increasingly popular due to the growing interest in Artificial Intelligence globally, as the acronym coincides with the abbreviation for Artificial Intelligence (TechCrunch, 2017).
Country code TLDs (.uk, .us, .au, .nz, etc.) are generally intended for use by entities connected with the corresponding country. However, many country-specific domain names have been repurposed for wide-ranging uses around the world. In the case of .AI, individuals, companies, and organizations involved in the field of Artificial Intelligence frequently use it because it matches the AI abbreviation.
Registering a .AI domain is more complicated than registering a .com domain. This is because the registration process for the .AI domain is managed by the government of Anguilla. As a result, the .AI registration procedure may also be more expensive and less automated than the process for a .com domain (namecheap, 2021).
Despite these challenges, many notable firms and projects in the AI sector have chosen to utilize the .AI domain name. For example, startups like Argo.AI (an autonomous vehicle technology platform), OpenAI (an artificial intelligence research lab), and Primer.AI (an AI-powered English language learning app) all use the .AI domain name (TechCrunch, 2017).
To sum up, the .AI top-level domain (TLD) is officially the internet country code for Anguilla. However, its use has expanded significantly due to the increasing popularity of AI (Artificial Intelligence), with numerous AI-related companies and organizations choosing to align their online presence with this domain.
Sources:
- IANA. (2021). .ai – ICANN. https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
- TechCrunch. (2017). The .ai domain name has become surprisingly popular. https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/29/the-ai-domain-name-has-become-surprisingly-popular
- Namecheap. (2021). Everything you need to know about .AI domain names. Namecheap Blog. https://www.namecheap.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ai-domain-names/
