The Next Frontier
2024–present
Significance
AI's cultural dominance has made .ai one of the most sought-after ccTLDs ever, illustrating how technological trends directly reshape domain economics. The next gTLD round and RDAP mandate signal that the domain industry continues to evolve rapidly even after four decades.
Key Events
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يناير 1, 2024
Technology Change
Blockchain DNS Gains Traction with Unstoppable Domains and ENS
Blockchain-based naming systems — chiefly Ethereum Name Service (ENS) with .eth names and Unstoppable Domains with extensions like .crypto and .wallet — attracted millions of registrations by 2024, representing a …
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يناير 1, 2024
Milestone
AI Domain Boom: .ai Becomes Premier Tech TLD
The generative AI revolution that began with ChatGPT's launch in late 2022 turned .ai — the ccTLD of the Caribbean island of Anguilla — into one of the most sought-after …
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مارس 1, 2024
Controversy
AI-Generated Domain Squatting Becomes Widespread Concern
By early 2024, security researchers and brand protection firms were documenting a new wave of domain abuse: automated systems using large language models to generate and register thousands of plausible-sounding …
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إبريل 1, 2024
ICANN Decision
ICANN Announces Next New gTLD Round Opening
ICANN announced the formal opening of the next round of new generic top-level domain applications in 2024, marking the first such round since 2012. The program incorporated lessons from the …
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يونيو 1, 2024
Technology Change
DNS over HTTPS Adoption Reaches Mainstream
DNS over HTTPS (DoH), standardized in RFC 8484 in 2018, reached mainstream adoption in 2024 as major operating systems — including Windows 11, macOS, iOS, and Android — enabled encrypted …
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يونيو 1, 2024
Milestone
Anguilla's .ai Revenue Exceeds Government Budget
By mid-2024, Anguilla's annual revenue from .ai domain registrations was reported to exceed the British Overseas Territory's entire government operating budget — an extraordinary windfall for a community of roughly …
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يناير 1, 2025
Milestone
Global Domain Registrations Surpass 370 Million
The total number of registered domain names across all TLDs surpassed 370 million globally in early 2025, according to Verisign's Domain Name Industry Brief. .com remained the dominant TLD with …
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أغسطس 31, 2025
Policy Change
ICANN Mandates RDAP to Replace WHOIS
ICANN's deadline for all accredited registrars and contracted registries to implement the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) and phase out the legacy WHOIS protocol fell on August 31, 2025. RDAP, …
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أغسطس 31, 2025
Policy Change
ICANN Mandates Transition from WHOIS to RDAP
ICANN's August 31, 2025, deadline required all accredited registrars and contracted registries to replace the 40-year-old WHOIS protocol with the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP). RDAP delivers structured JSON responses …