Anguilla’s .ai country domain exploded from 48,000 registrations in 2018 to 870,000 this year, now supplying nearly 50% of the government’s revenue. The AI hype has turned a tiny nation’s internet namespace into a major fiscal asset, akin to a resource boom but in digital real estate. This raises questions about volatility, governance of ccTLD revenues, and the geopolitics of internet naming.
— It highlights how AI’s economic spillovers can reshape small-country finances and policy, showing digital rents can rival traditional tax bases.
EditorDavid
2025.11.29
78% relevant
Both pieces show how limited digital resources (country TLDs in the Anguilla case; IPv4 blocks here) can become outsized fiscal or private‑rent streams for small jurisdictions or intermediaries; the article documents Lu/Larus monetizing African IPv4 blocks much like .ai registrations became a fiscal windfall, raising similar questions about volatility, governance, and who captures digital rents.
Alex Tabarrok
2025.10.05
100% relevant
Tabarrok’s note that .ai registrations are 870,000 YTD and account for nearly half of Anguilla’s state revenues (population ~15,000).
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