AI summary
- Registry SI reported a 2,199% rise in .si registrations in September 2026, with about 11,000 new addresses on September 30.
- Only about 3% of .si domains on Hostinger are explicitly AI-related, so most of these buyers aren't building AI products.
- At about $12 a year, low prices explain the rush, but they also undermine scarcity and resale value.
- A claim that .si names are reselling for over a million dollars is unverified, and no marketplace data supports it.
- Only buy a .si for a generic, searched phrase whose .com and .ai are taken or expensive.
What Registry SI actually reported
The numbers behind the .si rush are now public, and they're big. According to Techlist, Registry SI reported a 2,199% increase in September 2026. It recorded about 11,000 new addresses on September 30 and nearly 13,000 in a recent 24-hour period.
Computerworld gives a slightly different snapshot. In the 24 hours after the executive order, the registry recorded 9,780 new .si registrations, compared with just 3,515 in the whole of the preceding month. Around this time last year, registrations were running at 2,726 a month and 110 a day.
The trigger was the order President Trump signed on September 29, which requires federal agencies and departments to use "Super Intelligence", or "SI", in public communications and official documents. It's worth noting that the registry itself was cautious about putting the entire rise down to the order.
Why 2,199% isn't the number to watch
A percentage like that looks huge, but it's measured against a small base. Techlist puts it plainly: .si was a small registry, so the jump reflects a quiet market suddenly getting attention. The raw daily counts, in the thousands, are a better guide to real demand.
There's another detail I'd pay attention to. Hostinger reports that over three-quarters of its .si registrations since September 23 happened in the last two days. That's what a news-driven spike looks like, and spikes like this often fade once the novelty wears off, unless people actually start building products on the names.
Who's buying, and what they're registering
For anyone thinking about value, this matters most. Only about 3% of .si domains on Hostinger are explicitly AI-related. Most are "unclassified", meaning the names don't fit a clear category. Techlist's reading is that the wave is driven more by hype and optionality than by AI companies moving to .si.
Some of it is defensive. Kim Than, CEO of Genius PR, bought the .si version of his company's name "to protect the brand." He also describes domains as "digital collectibles" and says he may resell some. Hostinger says speculation is clearly part of the picture.
Price explains a lot of this. On Hostinger, .si costs about $12 a year, while .ai costs about $90 a year and requires a two-year commitment. Computerworld says registrars typically charged just $10 for a .si until now.
The million-dollar story, and the scarcity problem
A founder told a reporter that .si domains were reselling for over a million dollars. Techlist calls that an unverified secondhand claim, and no marketplace data in the reporting backs it up. I'd treat it as rumour, and you should too.
The low price cuts both ways. It's the reason the rush happened, but it also undermines scarcity. If thousands of people can register similar names for $12, few of those names will resell for much. Most new .si registrations are speculation, and there's only a small resale market for them.
Hostinger's head of domains, Klaudijus Januitis, expects .si demand to keep growing but doesn't see it replacing .ai soon. His summary: "For Anguilla, .ai became a second economy. For Slovenia, .si is a nice bonus."
What could keep demand going, or stop it
The order is narrow. It directs federal agencies to use "SI", but it doesn't bind private companies, investors, researchers or other countries. As The Rio Times points out, US law still says "artificial intelligence", and even the accord that six tech chiefs signed the same day never uses "SI".
The next date I'm watching is 28 November. According to The Rio Times, that's the deadline for the science adviser to propose a legal definition of SI. If the term spreads beyond government communications, .si gets a stronger case. If it doesn't, this month's registrations will look like a passing novelty.
Should you buy a .si name because of this?
Not because of the headline number. A wave of $12 registrations doesn't make any single .si name valuable, and I won't pretend it does. If the .com of your words is available or affordable, buy the .com. A defensive .si of your own brand is cheap insurance, but moving your main site to .si because of this news isn't sensible.
A .si can make sense for a plain generic phrase whose .com and .ai are already taken or priced far out of reach. Ask yourself three questions:
- Are the .com and .ai taken? If either is available at a fair price, buy that instead.
- Is it a generic name and not a brand? Never register a copy of one company's brand.
- Do people search for it? Real search volume is what separates a useful name from thousands of unclassified bets.
A few names in my inventory pass that test on the data. aiprompts.si ($5,500) matches a phrase with 201,000 searches a month worldwide. Its .ai twin is listed at $44,500 and the .com has been held since 2018. aivideoeditor.si ($5,000) matches a phrase searched 201,000 times a month worldwide, and its .com twin asks $149,995. aimarket.si ($4,500) gets 12,100 searches a month, and its .com is listed at $594,888 and its .ai at $47,995. futurehuman.si ($1,500) gets 5,400 searches, its .ai is listed at $290,000 and its .com has been held since 1999. These are still bets on a young extension, and I'd only buy one if you'd actually build on it.
Names from this store that pass the test
Questions
How many .si domains were registered after the SI order?
Computerworld reports 9,780 new .si registrations in the 24 hours after the executive order, compared with 3,515 in the whole of the preceding month. Registry SI reported a 2,199% increase in September 2026 and about 11,000 new addresses on September 30.
Are .si domains really reselling for a million dollars?
One founder told a reporter they were, but Techlist describes it as an unverified secondhand claim. No marketplace data in the reporting supports it.
How much does a .si domain cost compared with .ai?
On Hostinger, .si costs about $12 a year, while .ai costs about $90 a year and requires a two-year commitment.
Does the order make SI the official term everywhere?
No. It directs federal agencies to use SI but doesn't bind private companies, investors, researchers or other countries, and US law still says artificial intelligence. The science adviser must propose a legal definition of SI by 28 November.
Sources
- Techlist, 2026-10-02
- Computerworld, 2026-10-02
- The Rio Times, 2026-09-30
- latestnewsandupdates.com, 2026-10-02
This post was researched and drafted with AI help from the sources above, then checked by me before publishing. Facts are as reported on the dates shown.