According to a Reddit thread making the rounds, the domain AI.com was acquired for around $70 million, a price tag that puts it firmly in the “legendary domain deals” category. The story also claims the buyers are connected to the Crypto.com leadership, and that the domain’s new project was teased with a Super Bowl ad.

But the funniest (and most useful) part isn’t the number: it’s the reaction. Because when you buy the most obvious domain in the hottest category on Earth, expectations are sky-high! 

A $70 million domain is marketing by itself

One commenter nailed the core idea: the purchase becomes a headline, and the headline becomes the campaign. That’s the thing about ultra-premium domains: they’re not just web addresses. They’re positioning.

 

• Instant credibility: The name sounds official before you click.
• Unfair memorability: People remember it after one glance.
• Authority vibes: It reads like the category leader, not a side project.
• Brand gravity: The domain alone attracts curiosity, press, and conversation.
  
   

It’s the same reason category-defining names like Cars.com or Hotels.com became icons. You're buying the shortcut in people’s brains.

And while most companies won’t spend eight figures on a domain, you can still capture strong positioning with the right name. Tools like AI-powered domain search help generate creative, available names instantly, removing much of the friction from the naming process. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

The Super Bowl effect: when traffic goes “kaboom”

The thread also mentions the site launching around a Super Bowl commercial—and then struggling under the load. Multiple users reported the site being slow or unavailable right after the ad aired.
 

One person defended it as the classic “too many people at once” scenario. Another pointed out the obvious: if you’re buying a Super Bowl ad, you kind of know what’s coming.

The takeaway is simple: a premium domain can generate demand… but demand will expose weak prep instantly. If your biggest moment is also your biggest crash, that’s a rough first impression.

Want to avoid huge spikes in traffic crashing your website? Take a look at our DNS services: meant to help keep your website live and running across the globe.

“What is this… and why does it want my card?”

The loudest theme in the comments wasn’t hype. It was confusion. Visitors said the site had very little information, but still pushed a signup flow that asked for credit card details to reserve a handle.

 

Some users reported there was no charge (or a small temporary verification amount), and assumed it was meant to prevent spam. Others weren’t buying it, especially with so little context about the product itself.

This is the modern internet in a nutshell: people will try new things, but trust is fragile, and friction without clarity feels sketchy fast.

So what are “handles” for, anyway?

A few commenters speculated that the platform might be about creating “agentic AI” profiles: basically AI assistants you can name, customize, and possibly share or deploy.

Nobody in the thread seemed 100% sure, which is kind of the point. When you’re operating at peak attention (hello, Super Bowl), your launch needs to answer one question immediately: What do I get when I sign up?
 

Will this boost other AI domains too?

As always, a big sale triggers a familiar side quest: people checking their own domains. Someone mentioned owning a different AI-related extension and asked if it could be worth something now. Another commenter dismissed it as useless.

Reality sits in the middle. AI.com is a rare “category crown jewel.” But blockbuster domain headlines can increase interest across the space: especially for strong, brandable names and clean keyword combinations.

That’s one reason extensions like .AI domains have exploded in popularity. Originally the country-code domain for Anguilla, the extension has become strongly associated with artificial intelligence companies worldwide.
 

Why spend that much on a domain?

To most people, $70 million for a domain sounds absurd. In big tech math, it can be strategic. A category-defining domain can:

• Reduce long-term brand and ad spend (because the name does heavy lifting).
• Increase trust and click-through rates (especially from cold audiences).
• Strengthen investor perception (serious brand, serious intent).
• Protect the category (competitors can’t own the obvious name).
• Create instant global recognition (no explaining, no spelling, no “wait, what?”).

For companies planning global platforms, the domain becomes part of the core infrastructure.
 

The bigger picture: domains in the AI era

Whether the $70 million figure is perfectly accurate or not, the story captures something real: in the AI era, digital identity is leverage.

The right domain doesn’t guarantee success but it can accelerate attention, credibility, and momentum. And sometimes… the domain is the first product people experience.
 

Our takeaway: You can buy the loudest name in the room, but your launch still needs two things: clarity (what is this?) and confidence (why should I trust it?). Otherwise the internet will do what it always does: screenshot, speculate, and roast.

Curious what your own AI brand could look like? Explore available names or generate ideas with EuroDNS domain search and see what’s possible.