ICANN has published the applied-for strings for its 2026 round of new generic top-level domains, and the most crowded contest is over .agent. Thirteen applicants are competing for it, more than for any other string on the preliminary list.
The applications were submitted between 30 April and 12 August 2026. ICANN counts 1,615 applications in total. Of those, 333 are brand applications, 864 come from North America, and 506 come from Europe. The 2012 round added more than 1,200 new domains, including names in non-Latin scripts, so this round is a smaller program than the last one.
The preliminary list groups 891 applications into 263 contention sets, which are groups of applicants that want the same string. OPENAI OPCO, LLC is one of the 13 applicants for .agent, along with Radix Technologies, XYZ.COM and Intercap Registry. OpenAI also applied for .agi, where it shares a set with Zero Gravity Labs Inc., Radix and Link Freedom Group, among others. The list shows that these companies applied for the strings. It doesn’t say how they plan to use them.
Other sets have more recognizable names. Booking.com B.V. and Toddler Logic, LLC are both competing for .yeah. Coinbase Technologies, Inc. applied for .base alongside Paws Button, LLC and XYZ.COM. Four companies, including Intercap Registry and Radix, applied for .wallet, and three applied for .verified, including Registered Agents Inc.
ICANN’s chief executive, Kurtis Lindqvist, framed the publication as a milestone:
“Reveal Day marks an important milestone for the next expansion of the Domain Name System,” said Kurtis Lindqvist, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN. “These applications demonstrate how organizations around the world are seeking new ways to build trusted online identities, serve their communities, and connect with Internet users. ICANN remains focused on administering a fair, transparent, and predictable evaluation process grounded in the policies developed by our global multistakeholder community.”
A few things keep this from being settled. The contention sets are preliminary. Applicants have two weeks after Reveal Day to switch from a primary string to a replacement string if they’re eligible, so the .agent field could shrink or change before the list is final. A contention set doesn’t mean any string will be approved, and ICANN hasn’t said how contested strings will be resolved beyond the evaluation process it describes.
The final list of strings will be published on String Confirmation Day, 17 November 2026. After that, the strings that proceed enter a formal Community Input and Objections Period, which gives the public a chance to comment or file objections. Until then, the .agent contest is a list of applications, not a decision.