ICANN announces 1,615 new top-level domain applications, .agent has 13 applications from OpenAI, Meta, and iPollo
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced on October 7 the 2026 round of new generic top-level domain applications, totaling 1,615 from 481 applicants. AI-related strings are a crowded point.
.agent has 13 applications, with applicants including OpenAI, Meta, and iPollo. OpenAI submitted 15 main applications through OPENAI OPCO, LLC, including .openai, .chatgpt, .codex, .gpt, as well as .agent, .agi, .asi, .mcp, .model, .voice, with the others being .daybreak, .deploy, .evals, .oai, .skill. Anthropic submitted two: .anthropic and .claude.
Meta Registry Holdings submitted 18 main applications, with brand strings including .facebook, .instagram, .whatsapp, .threads, .messenger, .meta, as well as .llama, .metaai, .aiglasses, .metaglasses, .wearables, .superintelligence. The controversy set shows 7 for .agi, 5 for .asi, and .agent has more than the sum of the latter two. OpenAI and Radix appear in all three groups.
There are also multiple applications for crypto-related strings, with the public list including .btc, .bnb, and Cardano-related .ada. In the commercial technology strings, .bit has 11 applications, while .api, .brand, and .hub each have 10 applications. Publication does not equal approval or delegation.
The application window is from April 30 to August 12. Among the 1,615 applications, there are 333 brand applications, 16 community applications, 15 self-reported geographic names, and 21 internationalized domain names. Regionally, there are 864 from North America, 506 from Europe, 218 from Asia-Pacific, 16 from Africa, and 11 from Latin America and the Caribbean. The evaluation fee for each string is $227,000. The replacement string window is open until October 21, with November 17 being the string confirmation date, after which it enters the objection period. This round of delegation is expected to occur between 2028 and 2030.
The buyers are companies and investors competing for suffix registry rights, while the sellers are other applicants for the same string. The event is driven by the publication date, not domain transactions. The $227,000 fee is merely an entry fee; controversial strings will still need to be auctioned or withdrawn. Beneficiaries are applicants who can exclusively own strings like .gpt and .claude, while the 13 competitors for .agent will only leave one registry. Companies that did not make the list will have to rent names under others' suffixes in the future.
Source: Public information
ABAB AI Insight
This is the next major opening after the new generic top-level domain round in 2012. The last round included brand strings like .google and .amazon alongside investment strings like .xyz, transforming registries from technical functions into manageable assets. The 2026 window runs from April 30 to August 12, with the announcement of 1,615 applications on October 7. OpenAI occupies 15 strings with product and category names, while Meta uses 18 strings to combine social brands and .superintelligence, and Anthropic only submitted .anthropic and .claude.
Money is first paid as an evaluation fee of $227,000 per string, with auctions following for controversial strings. OpenAI is acquiring closed brands like .gpt and .chatgpt, as well as category strings like .agent, .agi, and .asi that anyone can claim. Meta only enters .agent and not the latter two groups. Crypto strings .btc, .bnb, and .ada follow the same application process, not issuing coins on-chain. The motivation is registry rights: whoever operates the suffix determines who can register and under what rules.
Similarities can be drawn to the brand protection of .google and .amazon after 2012, as well as the parallel naming of .crypto before it entered the main root. The difference this time is that the category words themselves are industries: agency, general intelligence, and superintelligence are written as strings. The industry position is at the entry of control segments, with delegation expected between 2028 and 2030; for now, it is just about occupying space and the controversy set.
Essentially, it is a transfer of pricing power. The pricing power of website addresses was originally with .com registrars; if brand strings are approved, pricing power shifts to the model companies' own registries. The mechanism is that generic words can only have one operator, meaning the 13 .agent applications must be reduced. Brand strings can be self-used without competitors, while category strings will depend on withdrawals, objections, or auctions to determine who collects rent.
ABAB News · Cognitive Laws
Brand strings are self-used, category strings collect rent.
Entry fees only buy eligibility; auctions determine ownership.
Whoever holds the suffix collects rent for names.