Key facts
- President Trump signed an executive order to rename AI as 'super intelligence'.
- Slovenia's .si domain registrations increased by 2,199% in September.
- 11,000 new .si domain names were registered on September 30th.
- Hostinger saw over 9,700 .si registrations on September 30th and October 1st combined.
- More than half of .si domain buyers on Hostinger were from the U.S. and India.
- Only 3% of registered .si domains on Hostinger are explicitly AI-related.
Slovenia's .si domain name has seen an unprecedented surge in registrations following a US executive order that redefines "AI" as "super intelligence." This has sparked interest in the .si domain, which is associated with Slovenia, the home country of First Lady Melania Trump.
Registry SI, the organization managing Slovenia's domains, reported a 2,199% increase in .si domain purchases in September. On September 30th, the day after the executive order was signed, 11,000 new addresses were recorded. Hostinger, a web hosting platform, stated that .si is now its second most popular domain extension after .com, with nearly 4,300 registrations on September 30th and about 5,400 on October 1st. More than three-quarters of all .si domains registered since September 23rd were acquired in the last two days, with over half of the buyers coming from the U.S. and India.
However, the trend is not uniform across all platforms. Wix reported no "meaningful uptick" and minimal site activity since September 29th. Interestingly, only about 3% of the .si domains registered on Hostinger are explicitly related to AI, with most being "unclassified." Many registrations appear to be from individuals and businesses, with a speculative element of buying for resale, as some .si domains are reportedly being resold for over a million dollars.
Kim Than, CEO of Genius PR, purchased the .si version of his company name to protect his brand, viewing domain names as digital collectibles. He believes it's a good time to buy before prices increase further. Klaudijus Januitis, head of domains at Hostinger, anticipates continued demand for .si, positioning it as a more available and affordable alternative to .ai, though he does not expect it to replace .ai entirely. He noted that unlike Anguilla's .ai domain, which charges a premium for its government, .si domains are significantly cheaper and go to the registry.