Trump’s AI Rebranding Spurs Surge in Slovenian Domain Registrations
Slovenian domain registrations spike following Trump’s initiative to rebrand AI as super intelligence.
Trump’s AI Rebranding Spurs Unusual Demand for Slovenian Domains
The recent initiative by former President Donald Trump to rename artificial intelligence (AI) is believed to have triggered an unexpected surge in the registration of Slovenian domain names. Trump’s suggestion to replace “AI” with “super intelligence”—abbreviated as “SI”—aligns with Slovenia’s own domain suffix, leading to an unprecedented spike in domain activity.
Klara Herman, a representative from Register.si, Slovenia’s national domain registry, reported a staggering 44,000 new domain registrations using the .si suffix in September alone. This represents a 2,100% increase from the previous month, which saw fewer than 2,000 registrations. Herman noted that such activity had not been observed in the past year, marking a significant anomaly.
Trump made this announcement during a speech to the United Nations General Assembly. He argued that the term “artificial” carried misleading connotations, suggesting something inauthentic. By rebranding to “super intelligence,” he hoped to better reflect the profound capabilities of the technology.
While the former president’s statement appears influential, Herman advised caution in attributing the entire surge solely to Trump’s remarks. However, the numbers are hard to ignore, with 11,000 registrations happening on just one day at the end of September.
Experts speculate that the spike in Slovenian domain registrations might also be due to cyber-squatting. This practice involves individuals buying domain names in anticipation of their value increasing over time, potentially allowing owners to sell them at a significant profit later. Historic precedents exist, like the 1997 purchase and subsequent million-dollar sale of men.com.
In a related development, Trump recently hosted key figures from the tech industry. During this gathering, he signed an executive order instructing U.S. governmental bodies to adopt “super intelligence” in place of AI across all official communications and documentation.
Despite this significant policy shift, the order’s launch was not without a hiccup. Images of the signed document were circulated online, drawing mockery when an error in the spelling of “United States” was spotted below Trump’s signature.
Photo by Chris Ried on Unsplash
