Reveal Day: a list of 1,615 applications published
The international nonprofit that coordinates the domain name system (DNS), ICANN, on October 7, 2026 published the full list of applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLD). On the day dubbed "Reveal Day", four kinds of data were revealed at once: the requested strings, the applicant organizations, the initial contention sets, and the public portion of each application. The data was published in ICANN's official press release for the 2026 new gTLD program.
Where several organizations applied for the same string, they were placed on a preliminary "contention set" — officially recording that more than one applicant is claiming a zone. The final decision on these zones will be made at a later evaluation stage. The public portion of each application is now viewable by everyone; confidential business information was not disclosed. The public portion is the section of each application that ICANN opened for public viewing: it lists the requested string, the applicant organization's name, and the preliminary contention set the application was placed in.
According to Lindqvist, the applications show that organizations are looking for ways to build trusted online identities, serve their communities, and find new ways to connect with internet users.
"Reveal Day is an important milestone on the road to the next expansion of the domain name system. These applications show that organizations around the world are looking for ways to create trusted online identities and serve their communities," said ICANN president and CEO Kurtis Lindqvist.
Application numbers: 333 brand, 16 community applications
Applications were accepted from April 30 to August 12, 2026 — the application window stayed open for three and a half months. During that time, 1,615 applications were filed. According to the official announcement, 333 of them are brand applications and 16 are community applications.
Brand applications reflect companies' desire to open a dedicated zone for their trademark; once opened, the company, as the zone's sole owner, manages the domains itself. Community applications are filed on behalf of a clearly defined group and are assessed under separate criteria. The official statistics count these two categories separately: 333 applications are brand applications, and 16 were filed on behalf of communities.
After the application window closed, the next stage of the process was set: the final list of all requested domain strings and the updated contention sets will be published on "String Confirmation Day" — November 17, 2026. Applications will then move to the official evaluation stage. 1,615 applications is a volume comparable to the 2012 round: more than 1,200 zones were ultimately approved in that round.
.agent and .agi — the AI companies' pick
According to The Verge's October 7 report, the most talked-about domain zones of the new round turned out to be .agent and .agi. As the publication puts it, these two zones drew particular interest at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) companies are settling into the "agentic era."
By "agentic era" the publication means the widespread adoption of AI agents that carry out user tasks on their own. For companies building such agents, a domain at .agent or .agi is a natural way to mark their ecosystem. In other words, domain zones are no longer just for brands and organizations — the AI agent ecosystem has entered the race for its own identity too.
Which company applied for which zone is now public information: the published list shows each zone and the organization behind it. The term "hot zones" is the publication's own assessment — not an official ICANN ranking.
The 2012 round: more than 1,200 new zones
This is the first expansion round since 2012. That round added more than 1,200 new top-level domains to the internet, including zones in non-Latin scripts.
Unlike that period, the 2026 round is unfolding against rapid AI growth. The interest around .agent and .agi is the clearest sign of this difference: 14 years ago, such technology topics were not center stage.
Next step: November 17
After Reveal Day, applicants will go through a review period for the fallback variants in their applications. Once this period ends, the final list will be published on "String Confirmation Day" — November 17, 2026. From that day onward, it will be clear which zones will go through official evaluation and which will be resolved through contention procedures.