Also called two-year minimum registration
.ai two-year registration rule, explained
Registrars sell .ai only in terms of two years or more. GoDaddy, for example, offers 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 years for both registration and renewal. Since Identity Digital took over management of the .ai registry in January 2025, a transfer to another registrar also adds a two-year renewal, so moving a name is priced like a renewal. Prices are set by each registrar and run several times a typical .com registration.
For an investor, the rule doubles the cash committed to every speculative hand registration. A name you would test for one year has to be carried for two, and a portfolio's .ai renewals arrive in two-year blocks. The practical approach is to register fewer .ai names, only where the word names a real product, function or category that AI companies would pay for, and to decide on each renewal well before expiry, not in the final week.
The common mistake is comparing first-year prices across extensions without multiplying the .ai figure by two.
Example. Hand-registering ten speculative .ai names means paying for twenty registration years on day one, before any of them has drawn an offer.
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Education, not financial, legal or tax advice. Domain investing is speculative and most domain names never sell. Read the disclaimer.