However, Anguilla’s position is not without precedent. The similarly tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu signed an exclusive deal in 1998 to license its .tv domain name.
Reports say this granted exclusive rights to US domain name registry firm, VeriSign in exchange for $2m a year, which later rose to $5m.
A decade later and with the internet expanding exponentially, Tuvalu’s finance minister, Lotoala Metia, said VeriSign, paid “peanuts” for the right to run the domain name. The country signed a new deal with a different domain provider, GoDaddy, in 2021.
Anguilla is operating in a different fashion, having handed over management of the domain name in a revenue-sharing model, not a fixed payment.
Cashing in on this new line of income sustainably has been a major goal for the island. It’s hoped the increasing incomings will allow for a new airport to be built to facilitate tourism growth, as well as fund improvements to public infrastructure and access to health care.
As the number of registered .ai domains hurtles toward the million mark, Anguillians will hope this money is managed safely and invested in their future.