It is six times smaller than the city of Madrid, but on the Island of Anguilla artificial intelligence is generating significant extra income for its town hall.
The Anguilla Island, located in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, is only 26 kilometers long by 5 kilometers wide. In just 90 square kilometers, approximately like the city of Palencia, 16,000 inhabitants live. Each will earn nearly $2,000 by 2023, thanks to artificial intelligence.
The Island of Anguilla is an idyllic “pirate” island, with its beaches of turquoise blue waters and white sand, its beautiful palm trees, and its tropical climate. It is located in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, 240 kilometers east of Puerto Rico, although it belongs to the British crown.
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Its 16,000 inhabitants are dedicated mainly to tourism. But since last year, 30% of the island’s income comes from artificial intelligence.
The Island of Anguilla and its connection to AI
Despite its small size, Island of Anguilla has 33 beachesso it attracts a lot of tourism that arrives by plane from Puerto Rico, the Island of San Martín, and Antigua.
Its main attractions are diving, swimming with dolphins, bird watching, and an open-air zoo.
The island of Anguilla earns about 100 million dollars a year from these activities. However, in 2023, 30% of the island’s income will come from… artificial intelligence.
It is not that an AI company has been established here, nor have servers been installed, or anything like that. The reason is that the Island of Anguilla is the owner of .ai domains, which refer to artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence). It obtained exclusivity for its English name Anguilla Island (AI).
X.ai, Google.ai, Microsoft.ai, or Facebook.ai, They are web pages of the big technology companies that lead to their artificial intelligence services, and that They have bought the domain in Anguilla Island.
according to account Bloombergthe domain manager sells them to the large Internet providers at a fixed price of 140 euros for two yearsa rate that rose from 120 euros last April… and that may not take long to rise again.
Since the launch of ChatGPT last November, the registration of .ai domains has doubled, until reaching 287,432 records. In 2021, barely 8 million euros entered for this concept. In 2023 it will reach 30 million dollars, 30% of the island’s income.
It is a constant flow of money for the coffers of the council, because these domains are rented, not sold, and they have to be renewed every two years.
The small island of Anguilla has won the lottery, being the only one that can generate .ai domains, highly demanded by artificial intelligence companies and applications. A lucky coincidence.