ICANN has disclosed 1,615 applications for new generic top-level domains, with major technology companies competing for control of strings tied to artificial intelligence and their products. This marks only the second occasion the governance body has opened the application process, following its 2012 round that approved over 1,200 new GTLDs, according to a report published Wednesday by The Register. The organization is now vetting submissions to confirm they're viable before String Confirmation Day on November 17.
OpenAI has requested 15 GTLDs, including .chatgpt and .agi, with six other entities also seeking that latter string, likely shorthand for artificial general intelligence. The company also wants .mcp, presumably referring to the Model Context Protocol, where it faces competition from Google and three others. Google, operating through Charleston Road Registry, applied for more than 30 new names focused on its products and is locked in an eight-way contest for .api. Microsoft seeks just two domains, .copilot and .msft, while Anthropic wants only .claude and its corporate name. Meta must contend with another applicant for .superintelligence but stands alone in pursuing .wearables. Thirteen entities hope to claim .agent, with Meta and Google among them, while Salesforce wants its name plus .force, .slack, and .tableau. An organization called Fomalhaut Exploration has applied for .intel, which could signal Intel Corporation acting through a proxy or the start of a legal dispute.
The report notes North America supplied the most applicants at 864, followed by 506 from Europe, 218 from Asia Pacific, 16 from Africa, and only 11 from Latin America and the Caribbean. Three contenders want .drone, nine are fighting over .brand, and ten applicants hope to build .hub. Two entities seek to take GTLDs to .mars, while seven operators want to run .official, the type of domain brands purchase defensively to prevent cynical actors from grabbing the name first.
When multiple parties apply for the same GTLD, ICANN first uses a "community priority evaluation" process to identify the most suitable home for a string, according to the report. If that approach doesn't resolve the conflict, rights to the GTLD go to auction. All applications must be decided by November 17, after which successful applicants can begin establishing registries for their new GTLDs. Readers will likely be able to register domains using the new GTLDs next year. The concentration of applications around AI-related strings reflects how aggressively companies are positioning themselves to control the digital real estate of emerging technologies, while the auction mechanism ensures domains won't simply default to whoever filed first, creating a financial barrier that smaller organizations may struggle to clear.