New registrations of Slovenia's country-code top-level domain ".si" are surging. According to monthly statistics from the registry Register.si, new registrations in September 2026 reached 46,066, about 13.1 times the 3,515 recorded in August. On September 29, US President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to refer to AI as "super intelligence" (SI), and interest in domains using the two letters "SI" has grown since.
However, acquiring a domain is not the same as actually launching an AI service on it. Comparing official statistics with activity in the resale market suggests that this registration rush includes people grabbing names in advance in anticipation of future demand.
September registrations were about 13 times the previous month
Register.si publishes registration trends in daily and monthly charts. In the monthly data checked on October 3, new registrations were 3,515 in August and 46,066 in September.
The September 2026 figure of 46,066 is about 13.1 times August's, an increase of roughly 1,211%.
| Period | New .si registrations | Why it matters for comparison |
|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | 3,515 | Previous calendar month |
| September 2026 | 46,066 | Same monthly series as August |
| September 29, 2026 | 4,115 | Day the executive order was signed |
| September 30, 2026 | 11,331 | Day after signing |
| October 1, 2026 | 12,728 | High levels continued into the next month |
The sources are Register.si's "Monthly registrations" and "Daily registrations." The multiple is 46,066 ÷ 3,515, and the increase rate is (46,066 − 3,515) ÷ 3,515 converted to a percentage, rounded to one decimal place and to a whole number respectively. The monthly and daily figures are not summed; each shows its own scale of registrations.
On September 29, when the order was signed, there were 4,115 registrations, but on the 30th the figure rose to 11,331. On October 1 it was 12,728, again above 10,000, so this was not a one-day spike limited to the day after signing.
That said, September's monthly total includes domains acquired before the order was signed. It cannot be assumed that the entire September surge was caused by the September 29 order.
The "last 24 hours" figure shown on Register.si's official home page also differs from the daily chart figures, because the 24-hour window changes depending on when it is viewed. Here, rather than mixing in a counter that fluctuates over time, we used the monthly and daily data from the same official charts.
In addition, the number of registered domains does not equal the number of newly launched websites or AI companies.
The US government changed a term, not ordering private companies to move to .si
What the September 29 executive order changed is the terminology used by US federal agencies. It requires them to use "SI" in official documents, communications, websites and the like, to the extent permitted by law. It does not order private companies to stop using ".ai" and move to ".si."
There is also no need to retroactively rewrite regulations or contracts already issued. For now, what "SI" refers to carries over the definition of AI in existing US law. Changing the name does not mean the US government has determined that current AI has reached intelligence exceeding that of humans in a research sense.
".si" is a country-code top-level domain originally assigned to Slovenia. Like Anguilla's ".ai," a string denoting a country or region can also be read as an abbreviation in a technology field.
According to a Netcraft survey on September 24, ".si" can be registered by individuals and organizations outside Slovenia. If the US government begins using the term "SI," companies that want to start businesses under that name, as well as investment-minded buyers who expect its value to rise, may seek the same domains. However, the executive order does not guarantee future demand.
In the resale market, some acquisitions anticipate price rises
In its own survey published September 24, Netcraft reported that ".si" registrations had been rising even before the UN speech. Particularly notable was the registrar Dynadot, which operates a marketplace where acquired domains can be listed for resale as they are.
Netcraft examined ".si" domains registered through Dynadot from 15:29 UTC on September 19 to around 15:00 UTC on September 22. About 52% of them had already been listed on Dynadot's resale marketplace as of September 23.
This is not a statistic showing that half of all ".si" domains were acquired for speculation. It is the result of checking the resale-listing status of domains Netcraft detected through a particular registrar over a particular period. Nor does it show the share of listed domains that actually sold.
In its follow-up on October 1, Netcraft said registrations through OpusDNS surged after the order was signed. Because that registrar provides services to resellers, Netcraft noted that the acquisitions may include some made with resale in mind. However, it did not identify what individual buyers intended.
The buying was not limited to ".si." Netcraft also found 87 ".com" domains combining existing brand names with "superintelligence" listed for sale at $20,000 each. However, at the time of its survey it found no evidence that any had actually been purchased and changed owners.
A high asking price only shows the seller's expectations; it is not evidence that the market accepted that price.
Note that Netcraft's hour-by-hour registration analysis is based on data detected by its own internet survey. The method differs from Register.si's official count of all registrations. As of October 1, the company also had not confirmed an increase in malicious content, such as phishing exploiting the renaming.
Surge at Hostinger, no notable change at Wix
For clues about which services the registered domains are actually starting to be used on, TechCrunch's own reporting from hosting companies is useful.
Hostinger told the outlet that registrations of ".si" by its customers reached about 4,300 on September 30 and about 5,400 on October 1, making it the second most popular domain ending after ".com." It said a majority of buyers were from the US and India.
Meanwhile, only about 3% of ".si" domains could be clearly classified by Hostinger as AI-related from the domain name, and for most the purpose could not be classified.
This is not the result of asking buyers about their intended use. Since AI services could also be offered on domains using company names or common words, the remaining 97% cannot be regarded as "unrelated to AI." It is also difficult to infer the uses of ".si" overall from Hostinger's customers alone.
Wix's account was in contrast. The company told TechCrunch that it had not seen a notable increase in ".si" registrations on its services since September 29.
The two companies differ in customer base and services, so these numbers cannot be used directly to compare market share. Even so, they show that the ".si" registration boom has not spread equally to all hosting providers.
Brand protection by companies, acquisition for actual services and buying for resale all push up registration counts. At the point a domain is acquired, it is not possible to know how the name will ultimately be used.
How much revenue does the surge bring Slovenia?
Register.si is the national registry housed within ARNES, the Slovenian academic and research network, and manages the ".si" registry and the top-level DNS infrastructure. Applications from ordinary users are accepted by separate registrars.
The official registrar tariff sets the fee for a new registration or renewal at 10 euros per year, excluding VAT. ARNES also states that it does not involve itself in the prices registrars charge end users. Presenting this 10 euros as a retail price that any ordinary user can pay would misread the fee structure.
The same caution applies to revenue. The fees paid by registrars to the registry, the sales of the registrars acting as points of sale, and the amounts domain holders earn from resale are all separate things.
Also, although ARNES is a public body, the fee income from ".si" registrations cannot simply be regarded as tax revenue or profit for the Slovenian government. Multiplying the number of registrations by 10 euros does not reveal actual net revenue or the contribution to government finances.
Under the ".si" general terms, applications that meet the conditions are in principle accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. However, what is obtained is the right to use the domain during the registration period, and applicants also have an obligation not to infringe the rights of third parties. If disputes arise over trademarks and the like, a dispute-resolution mechanism under the terms is also available.
Registering first does not guarantee that one can unconditionally hold or resell a domain that uses another company's name.
Moves to secure domains ahead of demand appear earlier than actual service use. To see whether ".si" takes hold as a business domain in continuous use, one needs to track how many websites and services go live after acquisition, whether registrations are renewed in the following year and beyond, and whether resold domains actually change owners.
Only when acquired domains are used for real services and continue to be renewed afterward can it be judged whether this registration rush has led to sustained demand rather than temporary speculation.