The 2026 Round,
filing by filing
What 1,614 applications declare to ICANN, read from the filing itself: the string's meaning, the mission, who controls the entity, which commitments were offered. Every claim carries its question number.
String analyses
Analysis · 15 October 2026.gptOpenAI is applying for .gpt as its brand, and could use it to get the two applications that want to open it to everyone set aside. Facing it, Identity Digital already won a fight against a brand in 2013, over .coach, and the US trademark office has refused "GPT" for three years.Analysis · 8 October 2026.agentThirteen filings for one word. Twelve describe an open namespace; one asks for community priority and binds itself to a foundation.Analysis · 8 October 2026.mattAutomattic's registry arm files sixteen strings. One of them is a first name, that of its founder and CEO.Analysis · 8 October 2026.mcpThere is a lot of contention in the AI sector, but this one has a particular flavour: a community application, more restricted, pushed by Google and supported by Anthropic, while OpenAI, a member of the same foundation under the Linux Foundation, is applying too, with another model.
Article · AI in the round · 4Not Nvidia, not DeepSeek, not Musk: the round's absenteesNone of the round's 1,614 applications names Nvidia, DeepSeek or a company of Elon Musk's. On the Chinese side, ByteDance, Alibaba and Huawei file their brands; Tencent, an applicant in 2012, does not come back.
AI in the round · 2The opposite strategies of OpenAI and AnthropicAnthropic is only protecting its name. OpenAI is getting ready to sell names to the public on ten words of AI, like a registry. And that is a trade in its own right.
FocusFocus on city names in 2026Fifteen applications declare themselves geographic in the 2026 round. Six come from the public body or from a company it controls according to the filing, the others from a registry it supports. Frankfurt and Munich are applied for by a private company that does not declare itself geographic. Cities like Nice or Lens see their name put forward, but as a generic word. They may nevertheless be able to benefit from it, as Bar or Spa did before them.
AI labsThe AI field: who filed whatThirteen applicants for .agent, seven for .agi, five each for .asi and .mcp. One for .superintelligence: Meta. Who filed among the AI labs, and the long list of AI names that no published filing declares.§ 1 — Register of strings, most applied-for
| 01 | .agent | Charleston Road Registry Inc., ECHO Domain Co L.L.C., Elegant Leader Limited + 10 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | .bit | Aruba PEC S.P.A., Duel Meaning, LLC (Identity Digital), Hong Kong Zhongze International Limited + 8 | 11 |
| 03 | .api | Charleston Road Registry Inc., ECHO Domain Co L.L.C., Elegant Leader Limited + 7 | 10 |
| 04 | .hub | HUB Culture Ltd, Hostinger UAB, Intercap Registry Inc. + 7 | 10 |
| 05 | .brand | Internet DotTrademark Organisation Limited, Intercap Registry Inc., Link Freedom Group Ltd + 7 | 10 |
| 06 | .robot | Zero Gravity Labs Inc., Internet Land & Cattle LLC, Intercap Registry Inc. + 6 | 9 |
| 07 | .pop | Aruba PEC S.P.A., Beijing Guoxu Network Technology Co., Ltd., Knock Knock WHOIS There, LLC + 6 | 9 |
| 08 | .official | Cam Connecting SARL, Cardelina Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada, iRegistry GmbH + 5 | 8 |
§ 2 — Rubrics
AI & agents54 stringsIdentity & trust28 stringsFinance & crypto89 stringsCommerce & brands94 stringsMedia & creators64 stringsTech & infrastructure170 stringsPlaces & travel50 stringsHealth & wellbeing40 stringsWork & education34 stringsNames & people7 stringsFood & drink27 stringsSport10 stringsPublic interest24 stringsScience & energy26 stringsCulture & lifestyle71 strings
Largest portfolios, by applicant name
Largest declared groups
- Ethos Capital Digital Infrastructure UGP LLC (Identity Digital)216 applications · 28 applicant names
- Starlight Aggregator LP40 applications · 20 applicant names
A group gathers the applicants that declare the same ultimate control. Nothing is inferred from names, addresses or websites.
Where applicants are
§ 3 — Who wrote the filings
We fingerprint the wording of each mission statement. 443 applications share their template with five or more others; the two largest families cover 153 and 139 filings. A measure on the text, never a claim of affiliation.
Shared with 5+ filings →§ 4 — Back-end providers
ICANN does not publish the selected RSP (AGB Q176). What filings declare: 116 say they are a provider themselves, 225 name an affiliated RSP, 216 of those Identity Digital. For 1,273, the field reads not published.
Data →§ 5 — What's next
8–21 Oct 2026Replacement period
17 Nov 2026String Confirmation Day — we publish the diff
→ 16 Mar 2027Community input, objections. Dates per ICANN; may change.