This Malaysian bought AI.com as a boy in 1993 and sold it decades later for $70 million

From $100 to RM300m: Arsyan Ismail’s AI.com Win

(image: SAYS) There are tech stories built on blitzscaling, venture capital bravado, and founders shouting into podcasts. And then there’s this one, which unfolds more like a long con played against time itself. In 1993, a Malaysian kid named Arsyan Ismail registered a domain for about US$100. The reason wasn’t market foresight or grand strategy. The letters simply matched his initials. Those two letters were AI. More than three decades later, …

AI.com Crashes The Internet After $70 Million Super Bowl Launch

The most expensive domain purchase in internet history has delivered its first returns. AI.com, acquired for a record-breaking $70 million by Crypto.com founder Kris Marszalek, crashed moments after its Super Bowl debut as viewers flooded the site following what industry analysts are calling the game’s most effective advertisement. The domain acquisition, paid entirely in cryptocurrency to an anonymous seller, shatters previous records by over 4…

This Malaysian bought AI.com as a boy in 1993 and sold it decades later for $70 million

For years, AI.com was just an elegant internet address pointing to different places across the web. Then, artificial intelligence became the defining technology race of the decade. Suddenly, two letters turned into prime digital real estate. Malaysian entrepreneur Arsyan Ismail bought the domain because it matched his initials. In April 2025, he sold it for about $70 million. Months later, the address appeared in a Super Bowl commercial, transfo…