US President Donald Trump’s push to call AI "superintelligence" (abbreviated "SI") has coincided with a dramatic increase in registrations of Slovenia's .si domains.
Register.si says registrations climbed from about 3,500 to more than 200,000 after the remarks, and that registry services remain operational despite the surge.
The authority denied it would profit from the spike and urged brands and companies to secure relevant .si domains promptly to protect their names.
US President Donald Trump’s call to replace the term "artificial intelligence" with "superintelligence" — abbreviated as "SI" — has coincided with a dramatic surge in registrations of Slovenia's country code top-level domain, .si.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York last week, Trump said he found the label "artificial intelligence", or AI, inappropriate because it made the technology "sound fake". He urged delegates and the wider world to use the term "superintelligence" instead.
According to register.si, the agency that manages Slovenia’s domain registry, the number of .si domain registrations jumped to more than 200,000 following the remarks — up from roughly 3,500 in the previous month. Register.si said the sharp increase began after Trump’s comments and attributed the surge to heightened public interest.
"Despite the greatly increased number of requests to all Registry systems, all services are operating smoothly," register.si said, adding that it would closely monitor operations and take measures if necessary.
The authority dismissed media speculation that it stood to earn millions from the spike in registrations and urged trademark and brand owners who do not yet hold a .si domain to register one promptly.
While register.si reported that systems remain stable, the surge highlights common concerns for businesses and rights holders about opportunistic registrations and potential cybersquatting. Brand owners are generally advised to secure relevant country-code domains quickly and to monitor registrations closely.
It remains unclear how many of the new registrations are active websites versus defensive or speculative registrations. Register.si's public statements frame the event as a sudden, registrant-driven response to a high-profile public remark rather than an organized campaign by the registry itself.
Bottom line: A presidential preference for a new term has produced an unexpected digital ripple effect — and a reminder that public language can have immediate impacts in the online domain market.
Help us improve.
