.model
Is .model a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.model is contested: 2 applicants have said publicly that they applied to run it, as of 17 August 2026. They are Journey To The West Corporation and Link Freedom Group.
A word with real pull in both AI and fashion, so niche projects can wear it well, but no industry treats it as a default address yet.
ai developers and ML platforms publishing named models, plus modeling agencies, individual fashion or 3d-artist portfolios, and hobbyist model-making communities looking for a literal, memorable identity
In LFG's published list of 300+ strings submitted before the ICANN window closed on 2026-08-12. Their catalog tagline: “The reference point.”
In Journey To The West's published portfolio of 323 strings submitted in the ICANN 2026 round. Their catalog line: “The trained system behind modern AI.”
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a one-word English occupation noun for a look-and-perform trade where the primary registrants are individual talent (plus their agencies) hanging a personal portfolio identity on the string, so the TLD only works if a diffuse, non-technical, agency-mediated profession adopts it as its own namespace.
Same bet on the other reading of the string: a short generic noun naming a class of software artifact that developers deploy and address individually, betting that an emerging technical category will want its own namespace before the category's shape (and its one or two dominant platforms) is settled.
Same bet as a creative-asset noun that has to serve two buyers at once — practitioners claiming a professional identity and marketplaces/catalogs of the asset type itself — with the risk that the word is so plain and so widely used that no group treats it as their home.
What a .model domain is
.model is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under AI & tech. 2 applicants have said publicly that they applied for .model.
Is the .model domain extension real yet?
.model is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. It is a string applicants have put forward in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, the process that decides whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .model domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .model name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .model was .actor, delegated on .
Is .model a real TLD?
Not yet. .model is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because an applicant said publicly that it applied for .model in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round. Every claim on this page links to its source.
- Journey To The West Corporation · first recordedJourney To The West Corporation
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“.model · Future Tech · “The trained system behind modern AI.””Journey To The West Corporation
“.model · Culture · “The reference point.””Link Freedom Group
“LFG voluntarily published its full list of submissions ahead of ICANN’s official Reveal Day.”PR Newswire (Link Freedom Group)
“Top level domain registry Link Freedom Group (LFG) has disclosed more than 300 strings submitted as part of the ICANN new top level domain name program.”Domain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann)
- Band chosen: strong niche TLD (50-69), at its floor. The string carries unusually broad semantic load: 'model' is simultaneously the core noun of the AI industry (language models, model cards, model registries), the identity word of the fashion/modeling world, and a hobbyist term (scale models, 3D models). By analogy, .ai converted a semantically loaded string into a category standard once the AI wave arrived, and .design sustained genuine primary-identity use among designers; .model could plausibly ride the same AI tailwind as a home for named models, demos, and portfolios (analogy, not observed demand for this string). It is above the 30-49 band because at least two real buyer groups (AI teams and modeling professionals) have credible primary-identity use cases rather than volume-or-price registrations only. It is below the 70-89 band because no major category currently defaults to it: AI companies overwhelmingly publish models under their own brand domains, and the fashion world's online identity runs through social platforms and agency sites, so adoption needs explaining and the aftermarket is speculative. Registration volumes, pricing, and comparable-string sales data are unknown, so this is reasoned qualitatively. Main market uncertainty: whether AI developers will adopt any third-party TLD as a canonical namespace for model identities within 5 years, or keep models as paths under their existing brand domains, which would confine .model to the smaller fashion/hobbyist niches.