One of the biggest winners of the AI boom isn’t OpenAI, NVIDIA, or any startup.
It’s a tiny Caribbean island with just ~15,000 people: Anguilla.
Why? Pure luck — they got assigned the .ai domain back in 1995. Back then, it was meaningless.
Today? It’s digital gold.
As of January 2026: over 1 million .ai domains registered (up from ~354k in 2023).
Revenue explosion:
• 2023: ~$32M (21-22% of gov revenue)
• 2024: ~$39M (23-25%)
• 2025/2026 estimates: $70M in recent reports, with some gov figures pointing even higher (up to ~47% of national budget in projections)
They charge ~$140 for 2-year registration, ~90% renew → super predictable cash flow.
Plus premium auctions (e.g., youai sold for $700k).
This windfall is paying down debt, upgrading roads & airports, investing in renewables, and funding free healthcare for kids and the elderly.
Who knew a random country code would turn a small island into an AI-era beneficiary?
Nature finds a way… even in domain names.