Donald Trump’s attempt to rename artificial intelligence has already produced one real economic consequence: a rush for internet addresses belonging to Slovenia.
The US president signed an executive order on 29 September directing federal agencies to use “Super Intelligence” and “SI” instead of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” in official communications and other non-statutory documents.
The White House called it the beginning of a new technological era. Critics see a branding exercise, particularly because “superintelligence” already describes a hypothetical form of machine intelligence surpassing human capabilities.
But “SI” is also Slovenia’s country-code internet suffix. Following Trump’s promotion of the term, Registry SI reported approximately 44,000 registrations in September, compared with fewer than 2,000 in August. Around 11,000 were registered on 30 September alone, followed by nearly 13,000 during the next 24 hours.
The surge has created immediate revenue for Slovenia’s registry and a potentially more lucrative secondary market for investors acquiring recognisable names to resell at substantial markups.
Musk gives “SI” corporate momentum
The story became more significant when Elon Musk indicated that SpaceX’s artificial-intelligence operation, SpaceXAI, would be renamed SpaceXSI.
Musk had already endorsed Trump’s terminology at a White House gathering of technology executives. The planned rename makes him one of the first major industry figures to turn the president’s language into a prominent commercial brand.
If other companies follow, “.si” addresses could become increasingly attractive to businesses hoping to associate themselves with superintelligence. Musk’s influence makes his announcement an important test of whether the term can travel beyond government.
Who got there first?
The timing of some purchases is likely to attract scrutiny.
Netcraft found that registrations were already accelerating around Trump’s earlier public polling over alternatives to AI. More than half of the “.si” addresses it detected through one major registrar between Trump’s poll and UN speech were subsequently listed on that company’s resale marketplace.
Netcraft also identified two batches containing 87 “.com” addresses combining well-known brand names with “superintelligence”. They were registered on the morning of 29 September, before Trump signed the executive order later that day.
This is best described as event-driven domain speculation. Where buyers anticipate a coming policy or branding change, it may also raise questions about possible policy front-running or foreknowledge.
Those terms do not establish wrongdoing. Domain names are not securities, so “insider trading” would be legally inaccurate. Early buying and attempted resale do not prove that private information was shared.
No verified public evidence currently connects the early purchasers to Trump, Musk, Melania Trump or their associates. Nevertheless, the timing raises legitimate questions: who recognised the commercial potential first, what did they know and how much might they make if “SI” becomes established?
The Melania Trump connection
The Slovenian dimension is made more politically striking by the fact that First Lady Melania Trump was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia.
There is no evidence that she influenced the terminology change or benefited from the registration surge. But a rebranding promoted by her husband has increased demand for the internet identity of her country of birth — a connection certain to attract attention.
Slovenia’s registry has cautioned against exaggerated claims about its windfall. At a wholesale fee of approximately €10 per domain, the immediate additional income is measured in hundreds of thousands of euros. The larger potential profits may belong to private speculators holding desirable names for resale.
What could this mean for Anguilla?
Slovenia has an important precedent in the Caribbean. Anguilla was assigned the “.ai” suffix long before artificial intelligence became a global commercial phenomenon, but technology demand transformed it into a major public asset.
According to the International Monetary Fund, “.ai” registrations generated approximately US$32 million for Anguilla in 2023 — more than 20 per cent of government revenue. The IMF later estimated that domain-sales revenue more than doubled to EC$227 million in 2025, roughly US$84 million.
That income has strengthened public finances and helped fund investment on an island with approximately 16,000 residents.
If “SI” remains confined to Trump administration documents, Anguilla is unlikely to suffer meaningful damage. “.ai” is recognised worldwide and embedded in thousands of technology brands.
But Musk’s proposed SpaceXSI rename changes the calculation. If major companies adopt “SI” commercially, Slovenia could develop a technology-domain market of its own. The suffixes might coexist, with “.ai” covering the broader industry and “.si” appealing to companies claiming to pursue superintelligence.
The real test is whether others follow Musk. For now, Trump has created the phrase, Musk is giving it corporate credibility, Slovenia is collecting fees, and domain investors are racing to turn two letters into valuable digital property.
Whether that reflects ordinary speculation, unusually sharp anticipation or something warranting deeper investigation remains open. What is clear is that a political rebranding exercise has shifted real money and placed two small territories on opposite sides of a potentially significant technological naming battle.
