{"id":3689899,"date":"2026-04-28T20:05:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/?p=3689899"},"modified":"2026-04-28T20:05:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:05:40","slug":"the-ai-boom-is-funding-a-caribbean-island-two-letters-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/artificial-intelligence-2\/2026\/the-ai-boom-is-funding-a-caribbean-island-two-letters-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"The AI Boom Is Funding a Caribbean Island Two Letters at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Anguilla did not build an artificial intelligence model. It did not raise venture capital or hire researchers. In the 1980s, it was assigned two letters by an international standards body: .ai. The island has been collecting a fee on the AI industry ever since.<\/p><div\r\n\tid=\"article-paywall-overlay\"\r\n\tclass=\"d-none\"\r\n>\r\n\t<div id=\"article-paywall-content\" class=\"my-4\">\r\n\t\t\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" lang=\"en-US\" dir=\"ltr\" data-wpcf7-id=\"2699550\">\n<div class=\"screen-reader-response\"><p role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\"><\/p> <ul><\/ul><\/div>\n<form action=\"\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3689899#wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" method=\"post\" class=\"wpcf7-form init pymnts-article-paywall-form\" aria-label=\"Contact form\" novalidate=\"novalidate\" data-status=\"init\">\n<fieldset class=\"hidden-fields-container\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7\" value=\"2699550\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_version\" value=\"6.1.5\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_locale\" value=\"en_US\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_unit_tag\" value=\"wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" 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completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/privacy-policy\/\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/terms-conditions\/\">Terms and Conditions<\/a>.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p><input id='hiddenPath' type='hidden' name='path' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='userDeviceId' id='userDeviceId' \/><input type='hidden' name='pageTitle' id='pageTitle' \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<div id='formButtonRow' class='container mt-1 px-0'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner btn btn-dark text-uppercase py-2 px-5 small\" id=\"theSubmitButton\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"post_id\" value=\"3689899\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"source\" value=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/artificial-intelligence-2\/2026\/the-ai-boom-is-funding-a-caribbean-island-two-letters-at-a-time\/\" \/><p style=\"display: none !important;\" class=\"akismet-fields-container\" data-prefix=\"_wpcf7_ak_\"><label>&#916;<textarea name=\"_wpcf7_ak_hp_textarea\" cols=\"45\" rows=\"8\" maxlength=\"100\"><\/textarea><\/label><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"ak_js_1\" name=\"_wpcf7_ak_js\" value=\"41\"\/><script>document.getElementById( \"ak_js_1\" ).setAttribute( \"value\", ( new Date() ).getTime() );<\/script><\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"article-paywall-hidden-content\">\r\n\t\n<p>The .ai suffix is Anguilla\u2019s country code domain, assigned decades before AI became a trillion-dollar commercial race. Every startup, lab and enterprise product that registers a .ai address pays the British Overseas Territory a fee. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semafor.com\/article\/09\/03\/2025\/caribbean-island-of-anguilla-makes-millions-from-ai-web-domain\">Semafor<\/a>, Anguilla generated $39 million selling its domain last year, nearly a quarter of the island\u2019s total revenue. Focus <a href=\"https:\/\/anguillafocus.com\/ai-domain-surge-brings-ec230m-windfall-to-anguilla-in-2025\/\">reported<\/a> that the island earned the equivalent of $85.3 million from .ai registrations in 2025, far exceeding government projections.<\/p>\n<p>Registrants include some of the most recognized names in AI: perplexity.ai, claude.ai, x.ai and meta.ai. Every one of them routes a fee to an island of 16,000 people with no tech sector to speak of.<\/p>\n<h2>Windfall Written in Two Letters<\/h2>\n<p>The .ai domain\u2019s value was negligible for most of its existence. Domaintechnik, an accredited .ai registrar, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.domaintechnik.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/ai-domain-en.pdf\">found<\/a> that revenue from .ai domains rose from approximately $2.9 million in 2018 to $39 million in 2024, reaching $93 million in 2025. The jump tracks almost exactly with the commercial AI boom that followed the release of large language models. The domain <a href=\"https:\/\/anguillafocus.com\/anguillas-ai-domain-hits-one-million-registrations-amid-global-ai-boom\/\">surpassed<\/a> 1 million registered addresses at the turn of 2026, with roughly 2,000 new registrations per day in January.<\/p>\n<p>Identity Digital, the U.S. company that manages the .ai registry on Anguilla\u2019s behalf, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.domaintechnik.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/ai-domain-en.pdf\">found<\/a> that 28% of all newly founded tech startups now use a .ai domain. The aftermarket reflects the same demand. Bot.ai sold for $1.2 million in February, the highest publicly known .ai domain sale, according to Domaintechnik.<\/p>\n<p>Technology Minister Jos\u00e9 Vanterpool <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cn5xdp427veo\">told the BBC<\/a> that .ai was expected to generate nearly half of government revenue in 2025. Anguilla\u2019s leadership has tied the proceeds to airport expansion, road construction, tax relief and expanded health services. Anguilla Focus <a href=\"https:\/\/anguillafocus.com\/ai-domain-surge-brings-ec230m-windfall-to-anguilla-in-2025\/\">noted<\/a> that the 2026 budget recorded a surplus largely driven by non-tax revenue from .ai domain sales.<\/p><div id=\"pymnt-808639044\" class=\"pymnt-content pymnt-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 50px;\"><p style=\"text-align:center\">Advertisement: Scroll to Continue<\/p><script async type=\"text\/javascript\" id=\"dianomi_context_script\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dianomi.com\/js\/contextfeed.js\"><\/script> \r\n<div class=\"dianomi_context\" data-dianomi-context-id=\"4329\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h2>Precedent From the Pacific<\/h2>\n<p>The dynamic is not entirely new. Semafor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semafor.com\/article\/09\/03\/2025\/caribbean-island-of-anguilla-makes-millions-from-ai-web-domain\">reported<\/a> that the Pacific island of Tuvalu went through the same thing two decades ago with its .tv domain, which became valuable as streaming platforms proliferated. Tuvalu licensed .tv to a private company and used the proceeds to fund public services. Anguilla\u2019s arrangement works similarly \u2014 Identity Digital manages the .ai registry on Anguilla\u2019s behalf, with revenues flowing back to the government.<\/p>\n<p>The comparison has limits. Tuvalu\u2019s .tv windfall faded as streaming platforms consolidated and domain prestige mattered less. Anguilla\u2019s position depends on whether .ai retains its association with artificial intelligence as the industry matures. So far, that association has only strengthened. The largest AI companies in the world use .ai addresses as product identifiers, not just domain names. For as long as that holds, a small Caribbean island will collect a fee every time someone registers one.<\/p>\n<p><em>For all PYMNTS AI coverage, subscribe to the daily <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/subscribe\/\">AI\u00a0Newsletter<\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>\r\n\twindow.pymntsAllowedArticleCount = 2;\r\n\twindow.pymntsPostID = 3689899;\r\n<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anguilla did not build an artificial intelligence model. It did not raise venture capital or hire researchers. In the 1980s, it was assigned two letters by an international standards body: .ai. The island has been collecting a fee on the AI industry ever since. Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3689942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65579],"tags":[9498,168493,168494,9206,133069,168495],"class_list":["post-3689899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence-2","tag-ai","tag-anguilla","tag-domain-suffix","tag-news","tag-pymnts-news","tag-web-address"],"acf":{"suggested_titles":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The AI Boom Is Funding a Caribbean Island Two Letters at a Time<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the 1980s, a standards body assigned Anguilla two letters: .ai. 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