Introduction
As technology continues to reshape industries, AI and tech-driven businesses must secure digital assets that reinforce their expertise and authority. .AI and .TECH domains are no longer niche choices.
They are becoming essential for companies that want to establish credibility, optimize their branding, and ensure long-term visibility.
For domain investors and resellers, this trend presents a massive opportunity to capitalize on the growing demand for high-value, industry-specific domains. Those who act now stand to gain significant returns as these domains become the gold standard for tech innovation.
Table of content
The growing importance of .AI and .TECH domains
In March 2024, there were about 628.5 million registered domains worldwide, and within these, 43 percent have generic top-level domains (TLDs).1
Contributing to this number and to the ever-growing market value of the domain industry itself, two domain extensions are gaining immense traction.
For businesses, startups, and investors are looking for domain extensions that not only establish a strong online presence, but also signal industry relevance, these two TLDs are are .AI and .TECH
As explored in this guide, the .AI domain space has shown not just a continuous upward trend, but also a still uncrowded niche compared to other established TLDs, reaching the second place in terms of registrations in Q1 2024, other than record-breaking sales amounting to $700,000 per domain.
For .TECH domains, we are looking at TLDs free of country-related restrictions offering a primary tie with brands and businesses in the technological space.
Domain Name Stats reports a total of 607,667 registered .TECH domains, as these ngTLDs (new generic TLDs) were part of a 35.4 million registrations in 2024.
Finally, both extensions are often comparable or alternated with .IO domains, which amount to more than 1,600,000 registrations, as per Domain Name Stats. Both .AI and .TECH domains are accessible via the related pages, or at cost price through our membership program.
Why .AI and .TECH domains are core assets for businesses
The tech industry is one of the most high-growth markets, with digital transformation accelerating across sectors.
Thus, the shift toward artificial intelligence, automation, and technological advancements has pushed the performance of tech related domains, leaving a trail of market drivers for businesses and domain investors.
As businesses seek memorable, brandable, and SEO-friendly domain names, .AI and .TECH are emerging as the go-to choices for those looking to align with cutting-edge innovation.
Indeed, the positioning of these TLDs impacts on businesses and on domain vendors selling to software providers, fintech, cybersecurity, SaaS, or blockchain, digital identity and marketing success.
Here’s why businesses are increasingly prioritizing .AI and .TECH domains
Clear industry relevance and branding advantage
.AI and .TECH domains instantly communicate specialization. Unlike generic TLDs like .com or .net, they provide an immediate association with innovation, technology, and future-forward industries.
In fact:
- Tech startups and AI-driven enterprises prefer these TLDs because they reinforce the coherence with their services and help establish authority in competitive markets.
- Investors and domain owners favor businesses with strong, industry-relevant digital assets, making these domains highly valuable.
Increased adoption among tech companies
Many AI startups and enterprises have already embraced .AI, following the example of famous AI model distributors like Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta, and making it a default choice for businesses focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Likewise, .TECH domains are top choices for software companies, engineering firms, and tech innovators, with leading examples of the calibre of Paramount Pictures (paramount.tech).
Rising demand for future-proof digital assets
- The demand for AI-driven solutions and deep tech innovations is skyrocketing, positioning .AI and .TECH domains as future-proof investments.
- The increasing scarcity of quality .com domains makes niche TLDs a strategic alternative for businesses looking to secure brandable and industry-specific domains.
Premium one-word domains in these extensions are appreciating in value, making them a lucrative investment opportunity for domain investors and resellers.
Benefits of .AI domains
As explored in this brief guide describing how and where to purchase .ai extensions at wholesale price (or cost price), the domain market is taking these TLDs as a benchmark for growth for domain investors.
Association with AI innovation
In short, the .AI domain extension has become the digital identity of artificial intelligence.
And AI is impacting literally any industry, from finance to healthcare, from cybersecurity to marketing.
So, businesses and domain resellers looking to exploit the trend can access domain names that instantly associate them with AI-driven innovation.
In addition to this, a .AI extension signals industry expertise, making it highly desirable for companies in machine learning, robotics, automation, and data science.
Investor attraction
AI startups with strong branding, including an industry-specific domain, are more attractive to venture capitalists and tech accelerators.
If that statement finds you humming, let’s have a look at these numbers:
- AI companies raised an unprecedented $100.4 billion in 2024, with quarterly funding reaching $43.8 billion in Q4 2024 alone, and 32 new AI unicorns emerged in 2024, representing nearly half of all new unicorns that year. 2
- AI investments increased by 62% to $110 billion in 2024, according to TechCrunch. 3
Naturally, many leading AI companies, research institutions, and AI-focused SaaS providers have already embraced .AI domains, reinforcing its industry-wide credibility and kickstarting the race to expand and saturate this niche.
.AI performance
When it comes to sales, there are several data that we can put together and observe to verify .AI’s upward trends.
For instance, here’s a recap of the sales from March 2024 to February 2025, according to NameBio:
Additionally, we have collected a series of critical market stats and sales data in this guide.
Examples of successful .AI TLDs
Many high-profile AI companies, startups, and research institutions leverage .AI domains for branding and market positioning.
Following up are some notable examples that either refer to .AI and .TECH extensions directly or are related to the tech industry, taken from both big players and recently emerged initiatives.
The AI.com case
In the 1990s, AI.com was an asset of Google’s portfolio, and turned to being unofficially attributed to OpenAI later in the 2020es. This, until Elon Musk bought it in 2023 (with sale estimations mentioning 7 figures) to redirect it to X.ai. 4
If one visits it now, this redirects to nothing less than DeepSeek, the Chinese company that has shaken the generative AI market.
This example serves as a benchmark to underline the foundation of the influence of AI in the tech market, describing not just a hype, but a stable trend destined to influence .AI assets in the long run.
The heavy hitter sale of expert.ai
Expert.ai is connected to an AI company with a branched scope of service and strong market presence signaled by its investors, clients, and research benchmarks.
Who.is signals its latest registration updates in April 2024, after what it seems a far-sighted investment tracked back to an Italian registrant in 2018.
Google’s DeepMind – deepmind.ai
This is a no-brainer coat of arms that represents Google’s umbrella of initiatives in the AI space.
Google DeepMind is indeed a top-tier AI research company focusing on machine learning and neural networks, and the choice of an .AI extension to officialize the project is hardly surprising.
These examples demonstrate how these TLDs provide instant credibility and market positioning, making them a prime choice for AI-related businesses.
Benefits of .TECH domains
The .TECH domain extension is designed to cater to a wide range of businesses in the technology industry.
Unlike other TLDs, .TECH is not restricted to a specific sub-niche, making it suitable for:
- Domain resellers with a tech-oriented customer base
- Domain traders and investor that want to exploit growing industry-related names
- Software companies, like SaaS, enterprise software, and B2B tech solutions.
- Hardware and engineering firms, in robotics, IoT, and IT services.
- Startups and venture-backed tech companies, companies in fintech, cybersecurity, and application of AI and emerging technologies in a variety of industries.
- Web development and coding platforms, tech education platforms, dev tools, and coding boot camps.
Looking for .TECH hitters
To dispel any doubts about the undisputable value of .TECH domains, let’s first highlight how rewarding .TECH examples are becoming.
Moreover, if we look at .TECH extensions sold in the past six months, we see an average price of $3,309.
Supporting the brand positioning in the technology space
Similarly to .AI ones.TECH domains provide instant credibility in the technology space, making them a strong branding asset.
In fact, there is a clear differentiation from generic TLDs: while .com remains widely used, .TECH clearly communicates industry affiliation, giving companies a stronger brand identity.
Domain name flexibility
A .TECH domain is ideal for companies in various technology-driven sectors, helping them establish credibility across multiple markets. Whether a company is in software development, AI, cloud computing, or blockchain, a .TECH domain provides a future-proof online presence.
- Tech education & learning platforms – Many tech education providers use .TECH for branding (e.g., coding.tech, devacademy.tech).
- Web development & SaaS companies – Software firms benefit from a tech-focused brand identity using .TECH.
- Blockchain and fintech brands – With blockchain and fintech revolutionizing financial services, many startups prefer .TECH to highlight their innovation.
Memorability, prestige and perceived value
Shorter and more relevant domain names like .TECH are easier to remember, making it more likely for users to return to the website. This is especially valuable for startups looking to stand out in crowded markets.
Niche domains carry a level of prestige that generic extensions lack. Customers often subconsciously associate these domains with cutting-edge technology and professionalism, further enhancing brand authority.
How .AI and .TECH domains help SEO
When talking about the organic performance of these TLDs, two major factors can tilt the needle: the special treatment of .AI by search algorithms and the users direct perception of the industry.
Intrinsic SEO benefits – .AI
Although .AI originated as a country-code domain for Anguilla, search engines now treat it as a generic top-level domain (gTLD).
This allows businesses to bypass geographic restrictions and target global audiences effectively.
Intrinsic SEO benefits – .TECH
.TECH is also treated as gTLD and, like its counterpart .AI, it conveys a direct connection with the macro-area of technology, resulting in a more flexible and adaptable extension for different service or content purposes.
Moreover, as .TECH has a longer history as a gTLD, reflecting
SEO and marketability advantages
Some of other advantages of these extensions are about pairing up with broader SEO strategies, including:
- Using keyword-relevant domains as an indirect contributor to improve search rankings and click-through rates, helping businesses drive organic traffic.
- Shorter, more memorable domain names allow brands to stand out and avoid the challenge of securing a premium .com domain.
- As Google’s algorithm continues evolving, contextual domain extensions like .TECH and .AI become more valuable for niche markets.
Conclusion – Getting the best deals on .AI and .TECH domains
To start taking immediate advantage of these TLDs, you can visit our dedicated free appraisal tools for .AI and .TECH extensions.
If, instead, you’re looking to purchase various .AI and .TECH extensions along the year, you can leverage bulk purchases, accessing from tens to thousands of domains free of any markup. To do that, create a membership here.
Sources
1: Global Domain Name Market Size, Share, Trends, & Growth Forecast Report, Market Data Forecast, June 2024
2: State of AI Report: 6 trends shaping the landscape in 2025, CBInsights, January 2025
3: AI investments surged 62% to $110B in 2024 while startup funding overall declined 12%, TecCrunch, February 2025
4: Elon Musk Now New Owner of AI.com Domain after OpenAI and Google, Silicon valley journals, August 2023
