.dot, the new open domain extension from Dish DBS, reaches General Availability on 2 November 2026. This guide covers the Sunrise, Early Access and GA dates, which route fits trademark owners, developers and everyone else, the registry rules registrars don't publish, and how it differs from Polkadot's .dot names.
.ai Domains in 57 Languages and Scripts: The IDN Launch Explained
Written by Liam Campbell ·
From 19 October 2026, .ai domains can be registered in 57 languages and scripts, including Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Thai and accented Latin. The .ai registry, operated by Identity Digital for the Government of Anguilla, is enabling these internationalized domain names (IDNs) for .ai and its subzones com.ai, net.ai, off.ai and org.ai, and registrars have been able to test them since 7 October 2026. Until now, a .ai name could only use the letters a to z, digits and hyphens. You can search standard .ai and .com.ai names today on our .AI domain page.
Dates and the language list are taken from the registry’s notices to registrars of 1 and 7 October 2026 and its “Supported IDN Languages and Scripts” list, checked on 7 October 2026. This page explains how the change works; it does not list prices.
.ai IDN launch dates at a glance
| Date (2026) | Environment | What happens | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 October | OT&E (the registry’s test system) | All supported IDNs enabled for .ai and its subzones so registrars can test their EPP software | Registrars only; nothing is registered for real |
| 19 October | Production | IDNs enabled for .ai in the live registry | Anyone, through a registrar whose systems support .ai IDNs |
The registry gave one reason for the change: demand for .ai keeps growing, and IDNs help registrants reach non-English speaking markets and local brands.
What changes for .ai domains
.ai is the country code top-level domain of Anguilla. The Government of Anguilla is its manager in the IANA root zone database, and Identity Digital runs the registry platform under a partnership with the government; the migration to Identity Digital was completed in January 2025. Identity Digital has said that .ai registrations grew by nearly 400% in the five years before that move.
| Before 19 October 2026 | From 19 October 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Characters allowed in the name | a-z, 0-9 and hyphen (ASCII) | Also the characters of 57 supported languages and scripts |
| Zones covered | .ai, com.ai, net.ai, off.ai, org.ai | The same five zones, all with IDNs |
| Example of a valid name | munchen.ai | münchen.ai (stored as xn--mnchen-3ya.ai) |
Example names on this page are illustrations of the format, not a statement that they are available.
The 57 supported languages and scripts
The registry counts 57 entries: 30 languages and 27 scripts. The difference matters when you pick the characters for a name:
- Language entries (tag like
deorru) are tied to one language, for example German or Russian. - Script entries (tag starting with
und-) cover a whole writing system without tying it to a language. In the BCP 47 standard used for these tags,undmeans “undetermined” language. Latin Script (und-Latn), for instance, covers accented Latin letters across languages.
Some writing systems appear twice, once as a language and once as a script: Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean and Thai.
Languages (30)
| Group | Language | IDN tag |
|---|---|---|
| European, Latin alphabet | Bosnian (Latin) | bs |
| Danish | da | |
| Finnish | fi | |
| French | fr | |
| German | de | |
| Hungarian | hu | |
| Icelandic | is | |
| Italian | it | |
| Latvian | lv | |
| Lithuanian | lt | |
| Norwegian | no | |
| Polish | pl | |
| Portuguese | pt | |
| Spanish | es | |
| Swedish | sv | |
| Cyrillic alphabet | Belarusian | be |
| Bosnian (Cyrillic) | bs-Cyrl | |
| Bulgarian | bg | |
| Macedonian | mk | |
| Montenegrin | cnr-Cyrl | |
| Russian | ru | |
| Serbian | sr-Cyrl | |
| Ukrainian | uk | |
| Middle East and South Asia | Arabic | ar |
| Hebrew | he | |
| Hindi | hi | |
| East and Southeast Asia | Chinese | zh |
| Japanese | ja | |
| Korean (Hangul) | ko | |
| Thai | th |
Scripts (27)
| Main region of use | Script | IDN tag |
|---|---|---|
| Europe and the Caucasus | Latin | und-Latn |
| Cyrillic | und-Cyrl | |
| Greek | und-Grek | |
| Armenian | und-Armn | |
| Georgian | und-Geor | |
| Middle East and Africa | Arabic | und-Arab |
| Hebrew | und-Hebr | |
| Ethiopic | und-Ethi | |
| South Asia | Bangla (Bengali) | und-Beng |
| Devanagari | und-Deva | |
| Gujarati | und-Gujr | |
| Gurmukhi | und-Guru | |
| Kannada | und-Knda | |
| Malayalam | und-Mlym | |
| Oriya | und-Orya | |
| Sinhala | und-Sinh | |
| Tamil | und-Taml | |
| Telugu | und-Telu | |
| Thaana | und-Thaa | |
| East and Southeast Asia | Chinese | und-Hani |
| Japanese | und-Jpan | |
| Korean | und-Kore | |
| Thai | und-Thai | |
| Lao | und-Laoo | |
| Khmer | und-Khmr | |
| Myanmar | und-Mymr | |
| Balinese | und-Bali |
The language and script names and tags are the registry’s; the grouping by region is ours, to make the list easier to scan.
How an IDN .ai domain works: Unicode and punycode
The domain name system itself only carries ASCII. An internationalized name is therefore stored and resolved in an ASCII form called an A-label, which always starts with xn-- followed by the name converted with the Punycode algorithm (IETF RFC 5890 and RFC 3492). Browsers and apps convert between the two forms automatically; you type and see the native characters, the DNS sees the xn-- form.
| Name as people read it | Language or script | What the DNS stores (A-label) |
|---|---|---|
| münchen.ai | German | xn--mnchen-3ya.ai |
| café.ai | French / Latin script | xn--caf-dma.ai |
| москва.ai | Russian / Cyrillic | xn--80adxhks.ai |
| 日本.ai | Japanese | xn--wgv71a.ai |
| 中文.ai | Chinese | xn--fiq228c.ai |
| भारत.ai | Hindi / Devanagari | xn--h2brj9c.ai |
Two practical consequences: the xn-- form is what you will see in DNS settings, WHOIS/RDAP records and some invoices, and it is the form to give anyone setting up DNS or hosting for you.
Who benefits, and what to check before you register
The obvious winners are brands whose name is not written in the Latin alphabet, or is written with accents: a Japanese, Korean, Arabic or Russian company that wants its .ai name in its own script, or a European brand whose name loses its meaning without an umlaut or an accent. For the first time they can match the name customers actually type with an extension that already signals artificial intelligence and technology.
Three limits are worth knowing before you build a brand on an IDN:
- Browsers may show the xn-- form. To block look-alike (homograph) attacks, such as a Cyrillic “а” posing as a Latin “a”, browsers display some domains in punycode instead of the native characters, each according to its own IDN policy (Google documents Chrome’s). Names that mix scripts are the ones most likely to be affected.
- Email is harder than the website. Email addresses with non-ASCII characters need mail servers that support the SMTPUTF8 extension (RFC 6531), and not all of them do. The safe setup is to keep email on an ASCII domain and use the IDN for the website.
- Protect the ASCII version too. Customers who cannot type the native characters may search for the transliterated name. If your brand appears in both forms, consider registering both.
Can you register an IDN .ai with Register.Domains?
Register.Domains sells .ai and .com.ai today, with a minimum registration of two years (an Anguilla registry rule) and optional private registration. The registry opens IDNs in production on 19 October 2026, and each registrar has to adapt its own systems to accept them; that is what the registry’s test window from 7 to 19 October is for. Before ordering an IDN .ai, check that it is accepted when you search on our .AI domain page, or ask our team through live chat.
If you need an internationalized domain right now, our IDN domains page lists 25 extensions written entirely in non-Latin scripts, such as .中国, .москва, .한국 and .укр. And if you are still deciding whether .ai is worth it, our guide Should you buy a .ai domain? explains the full price structure and the registration rules. For the general case for IDNs, see 5 reasons to have an internationalized domain name.
Frequently asked questions
What is an IDN?
An internationalized domain name is a domain that contains characters outside the basic a-z, 0-9 and hyphen set, such as accented letters or non-Latin scripts like Arabic, Chinese or Cyrillic. From 19 October 2026, .ai supports 57 languages and scripts.
How does an IDN .ai look in punycode?
It starts with xn--. For example, münchen.ai is stored as xn--mnchen-3ya.ai and москва.ai as xn--80adxhks.ai. Both forms point to the same domain.
Can I use an IDN .ai domain for email?
Technically yes, but only between mail servers that support internationalized email (SMTPUTF8, RFC 6531). Because support is not universal, the safe setup is to keep email on an ASCII domain.
Do browsers support IDN domains?
Yes, current browsers resolve IDNs. Some display certain names in their xn-- form instead of the native characters as a protection against look-alike domains, so test how your name appears before you print it on signs or packaging.
Do the subzones com.ai, net.ai, off.ai and org.ai get IDNs too?
Yes. The registry enables IDNs for .ai and all four subzones on the same date, 19 October 2026. Register.Domains currently sells .ai and .com.ai.
