Mon, 01 Sep 2025

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 How AI is helping a tiny Caribbean island make millions

Anguilla has the internet domain .ai and is earning a fortune selling the address to tech firms.
Anguilla, a small Caribbean island with a population of just 16,000 people, has landed a lucrative jackpot from the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) related website addresses. The island was assigned the .ai domain in the 1980s and had no idea that it would become so valuable. Today, over 850,000 websites use the .ai tag, including some high-profile companies such as you.ai, which was purchased by US tech boss Dharmesh Shah for $700,000. The number of .ai website registrations has increased dramatically in recent years, with more than a 10-fold increase in the past five years and a doubling in the past 12 months alone. Anguilla's economy is traditionally built on tourism, but the island is now looking to diversify its revenue streams by capitalizing on the popularity of AI-related website addresses. The government of Anguilla earns around $39 million (23% of its total revenues) from selling .ai domain names each year and expects this figure to increase to $132 million in 2025. The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has welcomed Anguilla's efforts to find innovative ways to deliver economic growth. To manage the increasing demand for .ai domain names, Anguilla signed a five-year deal with US tech firm Identity Digital in 2024. The company hosts all .ai domains on its global server network, which helps prevent disruption from hurricanes or other infrastructure risks. The prices of .ai domain names vary, but registration fees start from around $150 to $200, with renewal fees every two years at the same rate. Some high-demand .ai domain names have fetched hundreds of thousands of dollars in auctions, with the owners paying small renewal fees.
  >>