Slovenia’s .si domain sees a surge in registrations after Trump’s ‘super intelligence’ order
Registrations of Slovenia’s .si country-code domain surged after President Trump’s executive order instructing agencies to use “super intelligence” (SI) instead of “AI.” Registry SI reported a 2,199% rise in purchases in September, and industry registrars including Hostinger recorded large single-day registration totals around the end of September and start of October.
Why It Matters
The spike echoes the earlier boom in .ai domain demand and illustrates how policy language and high-profile announcements can rapidly shift domain-name markets, creating potential revenue and speculative activity for country-code registries and resellers.
Key Facts
- Executive order: President Trump directed agencies to use the terms “SI” and “super intelligence” for AI systems.
- Registry SI reported increase: Registry SI told the BBC there was a 2,199% increase in .si purchases in September.
- New addresses recorded: Registry SI noted 11,000 new .si addresses on September 30 and almost 13,000 new registrations in the past 24 hours (as of the report).
- Hostinger registration totals: Hostinger reported about 4,300 .si registrations on September 30 and about 5,400 on October 1.
- Geographic sources: Hostinger said more than half of its recent .si buyers were from the U.S. and India.
After President Trump’s executive order encouraging federal agencies to use the term “super intelligence” (SI) rather than “AI,” Slovenia’s country-code domain .si has seen a marked uptick in registrations. Registry SI, which manages the .si zone, told the BBC there was a 2,199% increase in .si purchases across September, and recorded 11,000 new addresses on September 30. The registry also reported nearly 13,000 new .si domain names registered within a 24-hour snapshot cited in the report. Responses from commercial registrars were mixed. Hostinger said .si has become its second-most-popular extension after .com, with roughly 4,300 registrations on September 30 and about 5,400 on October 1; more than three-quarters of the .si domains registered since September 23 on Hostinger arrived in the final two days of that span. By contrast, Wix told the reporter it hadn’t observed a “meaningful uptick” on its platform since September 29, GoDaddy said it does not yet host .si, and Squarespace had not responded to inquiries. Hostinger also reported that a majority of its new .si buyers came from the United States and India, and that only about 3% of the domains it tracked were explicitly AI-related; most registrations were uncategorized. The platform’s head of domains, Klaudijus Januitis, described .si as an affordable alternative for buyers seeking a short, recognizably tech-oriented extension, though he did not expect it to displace .ai. Some purchasers appear motivated by brand protection or speculation. PR executive Kim Than said he bought his company’s .si variant to guard the brand and because prices were low, adding that he might resell domains later; he and other founders compared the moment to the earlier .ai rush. Industry observers noted that the financial dynamics differ from the .ai case: Anguilla’s .ai registry charges higher premiums and channels revenue to the government, while .si is cheaper at many hosts (Hostinger listed about $12 per year for .si versus the roughly $90 and two-year commitment Hostinger listed for .ai) and revenues go to the registry rather than a national treasury.
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Original source: TechCrunch