LONDON — Anguilla, a Caribbean island just 16 miles long, has had to reassure its inhabitants that U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to rebrand artificial intelligence as “super intelligence” will not tank its economy.Anguilla owns the .ai domain name, and since the AI boom began, a significant chunk of the island’s revenues have come from people registering for .ai websites. Trump's attempt to rebrand artificial intelligence as “super intelligence” caused concern that the island's income could be damaged.But Anguillian technology minister José Vanterpool told a government press conference on Monday that the tiny island does not foresee a dent in demand for .ai domain names in the long term, and that since Trump's recent “super intelligence” announcements sales have actually increased.“I want to reassure the general public that at this stage, we have no reason to believe that this announcement poses an immediate threat to Anguilla's .ai domain industry,” said Vanterpool, referring to Trump.
In his Sept. 22 address to the United Nations General Assembly Trump called for AI to be renamed. On Sept. 29, Trump signed an executive order renaming artificial intelligence as “super intelligence.” Trump's rebranding appears to have caused a surge for demand for .si websites. Registrations of .si domains (which are owned by Slovenia) hit 44,000 in September compared to 2,000 in August, with 11,000 on Sept. 30 alone, reported the BBC.
But Vanterpool said it’s “highly unlikely” that businesses using .ai “will switch and affect their brand simply based on the statements that were made” and said some of the growth is “likely due to the speculation market.” “We have not seen that this announcement has resulted in a significant shift away from .ai domain revenue sales,” said Vanterpool. In her budget address in November 2025, Richardson-Hodge said .ai was projected “to contribute nearly 40% of total non-tax revenue; a remarkable example of how a small island can create global value through good governance and foresight.” On Oct. 8, Trump escalated his rhetoric with a post on Truth Social stating “The White House considers anyone that uses the term, ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ as opposed to the highly accepted new and more accurate term, ‘Super Intelligence,’ THE ENEMY!” This did not go unnoticed in Anguilla. He added that heading into 2027 the island expects to see a doubling of revenues following its expansion of .ai to 32 internationalized domain names, including in languages not using the Roman alphabet.
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