ICANN’s new TLD land rush draws 13 applicants for dot-agent alone, with AI a focus for new names
When ICANN revealed the 1,615 applications for new top-level domains (TLDs) on Wednesday, it provided a peek into efforts to control mindshare and organization perceptions via URL naming. Existing TLDs include .com, .org, .net, .edu and .gov, as well as country-specific TLDs such as .uk and .ca, and an already long list of generic ones, but ICANN envisions even further expanding the number…
On Wednesday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that 1,615 organizations had applied for new top-level domains (TLDs). This includes Meta, which submitted 21 requests, with .aiglasses, .facebook, .instagram, .llama, .messenger, .meta, .metaai, .metaglasses, .metaverse, .muse, .superintelligence, .threads, .vrs, .wearables and .whatsapp among them.
OpenAI made 15 requests for TLDs, including .chatgpt, .openai, .asi, .codex, .deploy, .evals, .gpt, .mcp, .model, .oai, .skill, and .voice. OpenAI is also seeking .agent, along with seven other organizations. Amazon applied for eight TLDs, such as .alexa, .echo, .eero, .kgs, .kuiper, .leo, .ring, and .twitch. Microsoft, despite having a wide range of products, only sought two TLDs: .msft and .copilot.
Six organizations are also seeking the .human TLD. Kurtis Lindqvist, president and chief executive officer of ICANN, stated that the applications demonstrate global innovation in building trusted online identities, serving communities, and connecting with internet users. The organization is committed to a fair, transparent, and predictable evaluation process, and once the list is finalized, a 104-day Community Input and Objections Period will commence before the final decisions are made.
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