ICANN has revealed a substantial surge in applications for new generic top‑level domains (gTLDs), receiving 1,615 domain applications from 481 different applicants in this round. The spike is largely driven by teams centred on artificial intelligence, with many organisations seeking AI-themed extensions or product-specific strings. Among the notable applicants are OpenAI and Meta, who filed for extensions such as .agent and .agi (Artificial General Intelligence).
Other proposed AI-related strings include .asi, .intelligence and .superintelligence, reflecting a broad push within the sector to brand AI offerings under specialised domains.
The approval process remains intricate. ICANN will assess string similarity to identify potential confusion, and overlapping or identical strings may enter a competitive resolution track. An alternative string adjustment period is scheduled from 8 October to 21 October, after which the final list of applied strings is slated for publication on 17 November.
A public comment and objection window will run from 17 November 2026 to 16 March 2027, during which stakeholders can voice concerns or support; however, objections typically require significant volume to affect decisions. The article notes that high-profile debates have occurred around controversial strings in the past, such as the now‑familiar debates over certain domain names, though it remains to be seen how this round’s AI-focused bids will be received in the final adjudication.