{"id":416877,"date":"2026-02-09T22:26:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T22:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416877\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T22:26:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T22:26:49","slug":"ai-com-goes-for-70m-as-crypto-boss-bets-big-on-buzzwords-the-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416877\/","title":{"rendered":"AI.com goes for $70M as crypto boss bets big on buzzwords \u2022 The Register"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re running an online business, it helps to own a memorable domain. That&#8217;s why a wealthy tech exec just paid $70 million to buy the hottest word you can own: AI.com.<\/p>\n<p>The deal was brokered by Larry Fischer of getyourdomain.com, according to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/83488628-8dfd-4060-a7b0-71b1bb012785\">Financial Times<\/a>, and is the most expensive domain purchase in history, eclipsing the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.godaddy.com\/resources\/skills\/the-top-20-most-expensive-domain-names\">previous record<\/a> \u2013 $49.7 million for CarInsurance.com.<\/p>\n<p>The buyer was Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com. While the figure is eye-watering, it is considerably less than the $100 million Fisher was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/getyourdomain.com\/press\/ai-com-sale\">bandying around<\/a> in 2025. According to the Financial Times, Fischer said: &#8220;With assets like AI.com, there are no substitutes. When one becomes available, the opportunity may never present itself again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While the final figure is not the nine-figure sum mooted last year, it is not to be sniffed at.<\/p>\n<p>Marszalek told the FT that he hoped AI.com could offer similar features to OpenClaw \u2013 ideally without the associated <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theregister.com\/2026\/02\/05\/openclaw_skills_marketplace_leaky_security\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">security nightmares<\/a> of the vibe-coded agent farm.<\/p>\n<p>He added that there were &#8220;good business reasons&#8221; for coughing up so much for AI.com. &#8220;There is a big desire for us to own this touchpoint, otherwise you get commoditized. I thought it was quite interesting that one person can own two domains that stand for such important categories.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Marszalek is doubtless expecting lightning to strike twice, given the impressive growth of Crypto.com in an already crowded market. According to the company&#8217;s website, it has more than 150 million users globally. As the AI bubble continues to inflate, the $70 million paid for AI.com could end up looking like a canny investment. Or it could be the final note in the symphony of hubris that accompanies both crypto and AI.<\/p>\n<p>Marszalek&#8217;s purchase coincides with growing investor jitters over the amounts being poured into a technology that has yet to justify the funds lavished on it. Then again, Marszalek told the FT he was taking a long-term view of &#8220;10 to 20 years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The purchase price was reportedly paid entirely in cryptocurrency. It would probably be best not to check the Bitcoin prices for a bit. \u00ae<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you&#8217;re running an online business, it helps to own a memorable domain. That&#8217;s why a wealthy tech&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-416877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-technology","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}