Anguilla Dismisses Threat to .ai Domain Revenue Following Trump Tech Renaming
Anguilla reassures residents that U.S. President Donald Trump's renaming of artificial intelligence to "Super Intelligence" will not harm its lucrative .ai internet domain revenue.
Anguilla Reassures Residents Over Trump's Tech Renaming
An island in the Caribbean has been forced to reassure its residents following a decision by U.S. President Donald Trump that could potentially threaten one of its primary sources of revenue.
Anguilla, an island spanning just 96 square kilometers (smaller than Beersheba), owns the internet domain extension .ai and has become highly sought after since the global surge in artificial intelligence. However, the U.S. President renamed the technology to "Super Intelligence" (SI), sparking concerns that demand for the domain extension might suffer.
For now, officials on the island are trying to calm fears. Anguilla's Minister of Technology, Jose Vanterpool, stated at a government press conference on Monday that there is no expectation of a significant impact on the long-term demand for .ai domains. According to him, sales have actually risen since Trump's recent announcements.
"I want to reassure the general public: at this stage, we have no reason to believe that this announcement poses an immediate threat to Anguilla's .ai domain industry," Vanterpool said.
Impact of the Presidential Executive Order
On September 22, in a speech before the UN General Assembly, Trump called for renaming artificial intelligence. On September 29, he signed an executive order officially changing its name to "Super Intelligence" (SI). The move reportedly triggered a simultaneous surge in demand for the .si domain, which belongs to Slovenia.
According to a BBC report, domain registrations for the .si extension skyrocketed from 2,000 in August to 44,000 in September, with 11,000 of those registered on September 30 alone.
Anguilla's Premier, Cora Richardson-Hodge, participated in the press conference alongside Vanterpool and stated that domain registration revenues reached 244 million East Caribbean dollars (approximately 90 million U.S. dollars) based on their data. This accounts for 91 percent of the island's projected annual revenue.
Vital Revenue for Sovereign Wealth Fund
This money is not a minor matter for an island whose main economic sectors are tourism and fishing. The revenues serve as a primary funding source for a sovereign wealth fund designed to provide a safety net in the event of natural disasters, such as powerful hurricanes that strike the island.
In her November 2025 budget speech, Richardson-Hodge stated that the .ai domain is expected to contribute nearly 40 percent of all non-tax revenues. She noted that this is an example of how a small island can generate global value through long-term planning.
