ICANN receives 1,615 TLD applications from 481 applicants; Meta, OpenAI, and eight others applied for .agent, seven companies applied for .agi, and six for .asi (David Pierce/The Verge)

ICANN has announced 1,615 applications for new top-level domains (TLDs), reflecting a growing interest in AI-related domains. From the 481 applicants, 10 companies, including Meta and OpenAI, submitted applications for the .agent TLD, while seven companies, including OpenAI, applied for .agi. Six companies, including OpenAI, applied for .asi, likely in response to President Trump's push for "super intelligence."

Four companies applied for .intelligence, and Meta is among two interested in the lengthy .superintelligence TLD (OpenAI applied for 15 TLDs, while Meta sought 21).

The applications can be broadly categorized into two types: generic domains, such as .geek, .haha, .anime, and .jackpot, and branded domains designed for specific companies. Brand applications include .applebees, .bankofamerica, .zillow, and .zoom. Meta applied for several social media-related TLDs, such as .facebook, .instagram, .messenger, .meta, .frommeta, and .threads.

Bluesky applied for .bsky, possibly to incorporate the domain into its usernames, while OpenAI applied for domain extensions like .chatgpt, .codex, .openai, and .gpt. Anthropic sought .anthropic and .claude.

Branded TLDs are becoming more common, with major tech companies and other entities vying for domain names that could enhance their online presence and branding efforts. The official approval of these new TLDs is expected within the next year. Despite the increasing prevalence of AI and its impact on digital communication, the importance of unique and memorable domain names persists, even for AI-focused companies.