Round 3 new gTLD applications and the AI

Claude (the AI) was asked to prepare a business plan and financial model for the .BHANGRA (for Bhangra music community), and .LATTE (the coffee drink) new gTLDs.

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Struggling to find the right strings?

As the TAMS application submission deadline approaches, many applicants are putting the final touches on their bids, while others are still gathering intelligence in an effort to avoid direct competition. A few observations come to mind:

• Applicants increasingly rely on external tools and market intelligence services to assess whether others may be pursuing the same string.
• The first application round in 2012 attracted 1,930 new gTLD applications. My expectation is that the 2026 round will exceed that number, including a significant volume of .BRAND applications.
• Identity Digital, the largest new gTLD applicant, operates 270 new gTLDs and manages a portfolio of 470 TLDs. Following its funding announcement in December 2025, it would not be surprising to see the company expand its ambitions in the upcoming round.
• GoDaddy is another player that could increase its application activity.
• Unstoppable Domains kept announcing lots of strings too.
• SuperNova200 has publicly stated its intention to submit 200 applications.
• Internet.best announced a list of 10 strings.
• Anyone using AI to generate lists of promising strings should remember that they are unlikely to be the only ones taking that approach. If an idea seems obvious to an AI, it is probably obvious to many other applicants as well.
• As in the 2012 round, new entrants with substantial financial resources could emerge and compete aggressively for attractive strings.

The bottom line: AI can be a valuable tool for brainstorming and research, but it may not be the best companion when it comes to identifying truly unique and uncontested strings. In a crowded and increasingly sophisticated market, originality, market insight, and strategic thinking may prove far more valuable than AI-generated suggestions alone.

The Applicant Guidebook: questions for the AI

Some questions asked to multiple AIs sometimes return answers from the first Applicant Guidebook dated 2012. Some answers also return with lots of precision.

• New gTLD Program: Replacement Strings?
• Applications Not Included in the Prioritization Draw in the next Round of new gTLDs
• What are the Fundamental Obligations of Registry Operators in relation to Registrars?
• ICANN new gTLDs: What are the Clarifying Questions?
• ICANN new gTLDs: What is the Prioritization Draw?
• How do I learn if someone plans to submit the same new gTLD application as me in April 2026?
• Should I own a registered trademark to submit a dotBrand new gTLD application to the ICANN in 2026?
• Which strings cannot be submitted as new gTLD applications in the 2026 ICANN round?
• How many new gTLD applications will be submitted to the ICANN in April 2026?
• Brand and Trademark Protections in the new gTLD program: what should an applicant know?
• What are the Different gTLD Application Types in the next ICANN new gTLD Round?
• Round 2 of new gTLDs: what are Replacement String and the Replacement Period?
• What are GAC Member Early Warnings and GAC Consensus Advice in the next ICANN new gTLD Round?

Answer here.

The AI answered these "new gTLD" questions

We recently asked an Artificial Intelligence a few questions about the next round of new gTLDs:
Can I sell domain names ending in my ".brand" through the network of ICANN accredited Registrars?

• Why should investment funds invest in new gTLDs in 2026?
• Are new gTLDs monopolies?
• What is ICANN 84?
• Why are community and geographic new gTLD applications more expensive?
• I want to fund a new generic Top-Level Domain at the ICANN but which one?
• How many people are needed to run an ICANN new gTLD Registry?
• Where are listed all upcoming new gTLD projects?
• What does the latest ICANN 84 GAC communiqué says about the next new gTLD round2 in 2026?
• Are 4 months enough to decide to submit a new gTLD application in the next ICANN new gTLD round?
• Can you apply for an ICANN new gTLD with a budget of 800,000€?
• ICANN Round 2 of new gTLDs: is it mandatory to deposit data of a Registry with an escrow agent
• As a generic new gTLD Registry, how much should I sell my domain names to the network of accredited Registrars?

We asked the AI a lot more questions!

What about ideas of new gTLD applications?

I know many don't want these to be displayed as examples but hey...this is a subject for the next Round of new gTLDs: what type of generic and community projects could be successful ones? To me, they rely on two things:

1. Comparable numbers from the past 10 years of similar projects: www.gtld.report (numbers don't lie)
2. How the potential buyers of these domain names are connected to the Internet? Is it part of their activity, or not.

We also asked the AI other questions but, we will probably continue to dig for numbers in the future and show them here. Here are the last questions we asked an Artificial Intelligence:

1. Canva just launched Canva Code: which use could they have of a .CANVA new gTLD?
2. The .MALL new gTLD: how many malls exist worldwide?
3. The .GARAGE new gTLD: how many garages exist worldwide?
4. The .SEO new gTLD: how many SEO specialists exist worldwide?
5. The .MARINA new gTLD: how many marinas are there worldwide?
6. What would it cost to acquire the existing .CEO new gTLD Registry if it was for sale?
7. How much does it cost to acquire an existing new gTLD Registry?
8. How do you value a new gTLD Registry?
9. What are the extra costs for reviews in the 2026 ICANN new gTLD application round?

Answers are on The gTLD Blog.

How old should your Trademark be for Round2 ?

It is a question we've asked the AI :

How old must a Trademark be to be submitted as a dotBrand type of application in the 2026 round of the ICANN new gTLD program?

Read its answer.

New gTLDs : did you ask the AI ?

Something very unattractive about the ICANN new gTLD program is that you have to search for common basic questions like: "how do I proceed to create my domain name extension?", "who do I talk to?", "how much doe it cost?", etc.

You will notice that absolutely no service provider will show any price on their website.

There are several reasons for this : an easy one is: "the ICANN new gTLD applicant guidebook has not yet been published, so we can't give you a price".

With my experience learnt from the first Round of the ICANN new gTLD program in 2012 a price is difficult to produce because no one can tell what is going to happen.

Once applications were submitted in 2012, I also read invoices increased by ten times compared to what some other applicants had paid ! Some projects could absolutely not be profitable for this reason and some filed.

Today, the AI starts to offer good answers about what one must do or pay. Legal and Financial questions are important too and the AI starts to be a very good tool to help in the application process. We answer many of these questions on www.gtld.blog, the AI will answer - and publish - your answers too if you want to send them to us.