Why Anguilla profits from the AI domain-name boom

Most artificial intelligence companies registering their domain names help fund the budget of this British territory in the middle of the Caribbean. But why?

Anguilla profits from the AI domain-name boom

This is not a scam. The British territory of Anguilla, in the western Caribbean, is making a great deal of money from the artificial intelligence boom. The reason, however, has nothing to do with any activity in the sector. These islands, located north of Saint Martin, have no connection with technology.

To understand why Anguilla has begun benefiting from the AI boom, we need to go back to 1995. As the internet expanded and became more structured, each country was assigned a code for domain names linked to its territory. France was given .fr, while the United Kingdom received .uk and Italy .it. Anguilla, meanwhile, was allocated .ai.

For many years, this made no difference to the territory, and the few websites using a .ai domain name were connected to Anguilla itself. That changed with the emergence of AI: securing a website with a .ai domain name helped businesses appear more credible and more “tech”. Since ChatGPT arrived and LLMs became widely used, .ai prices have soared.

AI domain names generate major revenue for Anguilla

As a result, Anguilla now receives a substantial share of income from this activity alone, thanks to a country code assigned more than 20 years ago. Some domain names have become among the most expensive anywhere on the internet. Beyond the speculation and price surge, the Anguillan government receives between $150 and $200 for every domain name purchased. In 2025, the territory collected $85 million.

For a territory with just 15,000 inhabitants, domain-name income has risen to 30% of total revenue, making it a cornerstone of the local economy and second only to tourism. Anguilla has used this money to make healthcare free for older people. Funding is also under way for an airport extension, while a sovereign fund for hurricanes has been established.

Other country-code domain names in demand

Previously, another island saw its income surge because of its local domain-name code. That was Tuvalu, in Oceania, north of the Fiji Islands. You can probably guess which code it was: .tv. Other codes remain popular, including .co for Colombia, .me for Montenegro, .io for the British Indian Ocean Territory, .fm for the Federated States of Micronesia, and .cc for the Cocos Islands.