Trump’s ‘Super Intelligence’ Rebrand Sparks Massive Rush for Slovenia’s .SI Domain Names
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A push by President Donald Trump to replace the term “Artificial Intelligence” with “Super Intelligence” is creating an unexpected surge in demand for Slovenia’s .SI country-code domain.
More than 46,000 new .SI domain names were registered during September, according to figures cited by Domain Name Wire, with registration activity accelerating sharply at the end of the month. Roughly 12,000 .SI domains were registered per day during the final two days of September.
The sudden interest stems from the initials “SI,” which match the abbreviation for “Super Intelligence” while also serving as Slovenia’s country-code top-level domain.
Trump had publicly advocated replacing the term Artificial Intelligence with Super Intelligence, arguing that the word “artificial” makes the technology sound fake. The idea moved beyond rhetoric on September 29th when Trump signed an executive order directing executive departments and agencies, to the extent permitted by law, to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” instead of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in official communications and other non-statutory documents.
Domain investors had already begun registering .SI domains before the executive order. On September 28, Domain Name Wire reported that the .SI namespace had grown by more than 15% during the month, rising from roughly 190,000 registrations in early September to approximately 219,000.
The latest figures put September registrations at 46,066.
That growth is notable for a relatively small country-code extension, but there is an important distinction between domain registrations and actual business adoption.
So far, most visible .SI aftermarket activity appears to involve domain investors acquiring names and relisting them at higher prices. Domain Name Wire also cited data showing no Product Hunt startups launching on .SI during the preceding 30 days, while dozens continued to launch using .AI domains.
That makes the current boom primarily a speculative one.
The economics also make .SI an attractive bet for domain investors. The registry charges approximately €10 per year at the wholesale level, according to Domain Name Wire. By comparison, .AI domains carry substantially higher registry costs and generally require a two-year registration.
Whether .SI develops into a genuine technology namespace will depend on something registration statistics cannot yet answer: whether startups, technology companies and other end users actually begin using it.
The domain industry has seen similar registration rushes before. A new extension, abbreviation or technology trend can generate enormous speculative demand almost overnight, but long-term value generally depends on development, branding and end-user adoption rather than the number of names sitting in investor portfolios.
For now, .SI has unquestionably received something most domain extensions struggle to obtain: sudden global attention.
Whether “Super Intelligence” becomes common terminology outside the federal government, and whether businesses begin branding themselves around SI, will likely determine whether Slovenia’s unexpected domain boom becomes a lasting market or another short-lived registration rush.
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of SEARCHEN NETWORKS®. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a how-to book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several online businesses.
Add STRATEGIC REVENUE as a Google Preferred Source to see more of our business, technology, and digital strategy coverage in Google Search.
Add Strategic RevenueYou can now select the categories you're interested in and receive email updates when new articles are published in only those categories.
