26 January, British Overseas TerritoriesAnguillaIt's not like it's an artificial intelligence surge. In the mid-1990s, the Internet Names and Digital Address Allocation Agency (ICAN) will be at the top of ".ai"domain nameThe island was annexed to it, where it was buried with a pen of future wealth. Since the advent of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, various websites have launched a booming trend to register “.ai” domain names, and this has resulted in significant income for a small island of about 15,000 people。
In 2023, Anguilla generated EC$ 87 million in revenue from domain name sales (note: the current exchange rate is approximately RM$ 220 million)221 TP3T OF TOTAL GOVERNMENT REVENUE FOR THE YEARin that year, 354,000 domain names were registered。
According to Domain Name Stat, as of 2 January 2026 the total number of “.ai” domain names registered exceeded 1 million, which means that the Territory's domain name-related revenues are also likely to rise sharply. This was confirmed by Anguilla's Prime Minister, Cora Richardsson Hodge, in her 2026 government budget speech, in which she stated that “domain name registration revenues continue to exceed expectations”
the report notes that revenues from the sale of goods and services are well ahead of expectations, largely as a result of the contribution of the “.ai” domain name. in the latest fiscal year, revenues in this area are expected to reach ec$ 260.5 million (the current exchange rate is approximately ec$ 673 million). in 2023731 TP3T OF DOMAIN NAME REGISTERED INCOME AS TOTAL SALES OF GOODS AND SERVICESi don't know. according to this ratio, anguilla earned more than $70 million over the past year through the “.ai” domain (the current exchange rate is approximately 489 million yuan)。
Anguilla's “.ai” domain name is registered at a two-year cost of $140 and approximately 90%'s domain name is subject to a two-year follow-up fee, resulting in a stable revenue stream. However, the real large proceeds come from the auction of expired “.ai” domain names, which are sold through the domain name register Namecheap. For example, in September last year, the domain name “you.ai” was sold at a price of $0.7 million (the current exchange rate is approximately RMB 4886 million); data from the Domain Name Trading Tracking Platform Name Bio over the past week alone, the total value of auctions for 31 expired domain names amounted to approximately $1.2 million (the current exchange rate is about RMB 8.3766 million)。