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Tech Giants Have Filed for New AI Domain Suffixes

ICANN has received over 1,600 applications for new top-level domains from hundreds of global companies.

Updated on Oct. 7, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence

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The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has received over 1,600 applications for new internet domain suffixes, with major tech firms competing for AI-branded labels. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Do you prefer companies to have their own branded web domains, such as .meta or .openai?

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has processed 1,615 applications for new domain suffixes from 481 applicants. High-profile firms including Meta and OpenAI are seeking control over AI-related domains like .agent and .agi.

Why it matters

The race to secure these domain suffixes represents a strategic effort by major corporations to establish digital real estate tied to emerging artificial intelligence branding. Controlling these namespaces could influence how internet users navigate AI-related services in the coming years.

Applications for AI-specific domains are highly competitive, with 10 companies vying for .agent, seven for .agi, and six for .asi. Additionally, there are 345 brand-specific applications among the total batch of 1,615 submissions.

The players

ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is the nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces and numerical spaces of the internet.

Meta

Meta is a multinational technology conglomerate that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp and is a primary developer of generative artificial intelligence models.

OpenAI

OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory and the developer of the GPT series of large language models.

The details

Companies submit applications to ICANN to secure both branded and generic domain suffixes for their exclusive future use. Current interest is heavily skewed toward AI terminology, including four bids for .intelligence and two for .superintelligence.

Timeline

  1. ICANN announced the 1,615 submitted domain applications on October 7, 2026.

  2. New top-level domains are expected to be made official in 2027.

The Tech Race

This wave of domain applications follows the expansion precedent established by ICANN's gTLD program to increase namespace competition. It marks a departure from traditional internet infrastructure, as companies look to replace or augment legacy domains with specific AI-branded suffixes.

Users should anticipate seeing these new domain suffixes in web addresses as corporations launch specialized AI services in the coming years. These changes may improve navigation to specific brand-controlled AI platforms while potentially complicating standard URL recall.

The takeaway

The surge in AI-related domain applications reflects a significant corporate pivot toward securing digital identities for emerging technology. Businesses and individuals should prepare for a more fragmented web namespace as these new, industry-specific suffixes come online in 2027.

What happens next

ICANN is expected to finalize the approval process for these new top-level domain suffixes throughout 2027.

Further reading

For more information on the evolving digital landscape, visit the /tech/artificial-intelligence/ section.

Live Poll

Do you prefer companies to have their own branded web domains, such as .meta or .openai?