Topic / Subject
AI.com was reportedly sold for about $70M to Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek, after Malaysian owner Arsyan Ismail held the domain for decades.

TL;DR
This is the ultimate “internet real estate” flex: a premium AI-era domain changes hands, and the buyer is confirming he’s building around it, while some viral backstory details don’t check out.

Key Details

• Yahoo Finance reports Kris Marszalek said he bought AI.com in April 2025 and started building a team afterward.
• NDTV reports the sale price has been widely reported around $70M and flags which viral details are not confirmed.
• Coverage identifies the buyer as Marszalek and the seller as Malaysian entrepreneur Arsyan (Arysan) Ismail.
• NDTV notes parts of the viral “bought it as a child in 1993” story are disputed/unclear.
• Exact deal terms (structure, intermediaries, escrow) haven’t been publicly disclosed.

Breakdown
There are domain sales… and then there are “single-word internet trophy” sales. AI.com is about as clean as it gets for the current era.

The strongest confirmation in this intake is attribution: Marszalek publicly saying he bought it (and when), and reporting that frames the price around $70M. But even with that, the internet did what it always does: turned it into a legend with extra spice — like the “10-year-old in 1993” angle — and NDTV specifically calls out that parts of that viral story aren’t verified.

What’s not in dispute is why someone would pay this kind of money: AI is the category, and AI.com is the simplest possible “own the front door” branding play. Whether it becomes a product, a redirect, or a holding asset, the value is attention and legitimacy.

What to Watch Next

• Any actual AI.com product launch or positioning beyond “team building”
• Further reporting that nails down the price and transaction details
• Whether AI.com becomes a standalone company brand or a gateway to something else

Sources

• Yahoo Finance — “Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek bought AI.com for $70 million…”
• NDTV — fact-check report (headline not provided)
• X — Kris Marszalek post (headline not provided)

Comment
If you owned AI.com, would you build a product on it—or keep it as a pure “trophy asset” and wait?