Why Slovenia’s .si Domain Registrations Soared After Trump’s “Super Intelligence” Push

Slovenia’s country-code domain, .si, drew an exceptional rush of registrations after U.S. President Donald Trump promoted “super intelligence” (SI) as a replacement term for artificial intelligence (AI). The increase came in two stages: after his September 22 UN speech, then again after a September 29 executive order told federal agencies to use “SI” and “Super Intelligence.” The surge is well documented. Evidence that Trump-connected insiders bought domains in advance or profited from the shift is not. 1417

How big was the .si registration surge?

Register.si reported about 44,000 new .si addresses in September, compared with fewer than 2,000 in August. Another published tally put September’s total at 46,066; these figures refer to new registrations, not the total number of .si domains in existence. 118

The rise was already underway before the executive order:

• Following Trump’s September 22 UN speech, Register.si reported 3,930 new domains in 24 hours, more than the 3,515 registered during all of August. 16
• Netcraft reported that .si registrations overtook .ai in the 25 hours after the speech. 14
• After Trump signed the order on September 29, daily .si registrations more than doubled compared with the period between the speech and the order. Register.si also reported 11,000 new registrations on September 30. 101

The order instructed the executive branch, to the extent permitted by law, to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” in place of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI.” 17 The timing supports a link between the terminology change and domain interest, but the September total spans both the period before and after the order.

What do resale listings and prices show?

The clearest buyer-behavior evidence comes from domain-security company Netcraft. It found that more than half of the .si names registered between Trump’s earlier social-media post and his UN speech were later listed for sale on Dynadot’s domain aftermarket. That points to resale speculation among some buyers; a listing alone does not show that a domain sold, or that its owner made a profit. 14

Netcraft reported .si pricing at about $11 for one year, compared with about $180 for the minimum two-year .ai registration at the time of its report. Because the terms differ—and domain prices can depend on the seller and timing—those figures are not a direct like-for-like price comparison. 14

Could Slovenia benefit financially?

The registration rush put Slovenia’s national domain in the international spotlight and generated a large volume of domain transactions. But the reporting does not establish how much revenue Slovenia or its registry retained from the spike. Register.si rejected speculation that the surge would make it millions, so registration counts alone should not be treated as proof of a major public windfall. 4

Do the figures prove insiders bought domains in advance?

No. The September surge happened before the September 29 order, but Trump had publicly promoted the “SI” terminology before signing it, including at the UN on September 22. That means registrations made before the order were not necessarily made before the idea was public. 1417

Separate claims point to earlier .si activity and suggest that people connected to the administration may have anticipated the rebrand. Snopes reported that the allegation that Trump and associates arranged the change to profit from .si domains remained unproven. The available reporting does not establish who owned the relevant domains, whether any alleged insiders had advance knowledge, or whether they earned money from sales. 1315

Bottom line: the domain rush is supported by registry figures and industry monitoring; a political insider profit scheme is not. Resale listings show that some buyers may have speculated, but they do not identify those buyers or prove a payoff.