At its Bali meeting, ICANN's leaders admitted the body must move faster and explain itself better, just as 1,615 bids for new web endings enter review.
ICANN, the nonprofit that coordinates internet domain names, used the opening of its ICANN87 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to admit it needs to move faster and be more open about how it works. Chair Tripti Sinha said AI agents could put new pressure on the domain system and help both scammers and defenders, while CEO Kurtis Lindqvist promised a clearer link between strategy, budgets, priorities and delivery.
The timing matters. ICANN is reviewing 1,615 applications for new web endings, its first round since 2012, with 333 from brands. The final list of strings is due on November 17, followed by a formal comment and objection period.
The group that keeps the internet’s address book in order has admitted it needs to move faster. At the opening of its yearly conference in Bali, Indonesia, ICANN’s leaders promised quicker, clearer work, and those ICANN transparency promises arrive just as 1,615 applications for brand-new web endings sit in its review queue.
Why should you care about a speech at a domain name conference? Because ICANN decides which endings, like .com or .shop, can exist at all, who gets to run them, and under what rules. If it moves slowly or explains itself badly, businesses wait longer for new names, and ordinary users get a web that is harder to trust.
ICANN promised a mindset, not a schedule. The pledges came at the opening ceremony of ICANN87, the organization’s annual general meeting, which ran from October 17 to 22 at the Bali International Convention Centre. It was the first ICANN public meeting ever held in Indonesia, hosted by PANDI, the registry that runs the country’s .id addresses.
Board chair Tripti Sinha pointed out that roughly ten years have passed since the US government stepped back from overseeing core internet functions and handed that role to ICANN’s community model. Critics had warned the internet might split apart. Her answer was that the best proof of success is what never happened: the domain system did not break into rival pieces, and the internet kept working.
She then argued that staying credible means checking the ways ICANN holds itself to account and improving them where needed. She pointed to a project called the review of reviews, in which ICANN is examining how it audits its own work. A cross-community group behind that project has reached a milestone, with recommendations meant to make ICANN more accountable, open and effective.
Artificial intelligence is the main reason the leadership says the pace has to change. Sinha warned that AI agents, software that browses and acts on its own, could change how much traffic hits the domain system and put more strain on the parts of the internet that help people find sites and trust them.
She also said AI cuts both ways. It could help bad actors register more malicious domains for scams, and it could help defenders spot and shut those domains down. Her pitch was for governance that can adapt as fast as new risks appear, while not rushing ahead of the evidence.
CEO Kurtis Lindqvist took a more practical line. He said that once the community agrees on a policy, ICANN’s job is to work out what it takes to put it in place, find the people and money, schedule the work sensibly and be open about progress and trade-offs. He cited recent work on DNS abuse, meaning domains used for phishing, malware and spam, as proof that ICANN can move quickly when goals and roles are clear.
He also admitted there is always more work than people and budget allow. His fix is a clearer, more transparent link between ICANN’s strategy, its priorities, its budget and the work it actually delivers.
The biggest live test is the 2026 round of new generic top-level domains, the part of a web address after the last dot. The application window ran from April 30 to August 12, and on what ICANN calls Reveal Day in early October it published the list of what was requested.
The numbers show how much demand built up during a long wait:
The last round, in 2012, added more than 1,200 new endings. including names in non-Latin scripts. The new round could bring company endings and fresh generic words to the web over the next few years.
The next date to watch is String Confirmation Day on November 17, when ICANN publishes the final list of strings moving ahead. That opens a formal comment and objection period. ICANN has also hired the consultancy Analysys Mason to run panels that check geographic and reserved names, a review that can add up to $12,000 to an application’s cost.
For most people, nothing changes right now. Your existing .com, .co.uk or .ca address works as before, and no new rule or fee came out of Bali.
The headline idea that these promises could speed up new domain approvals is a reasonable hope, but ICANN set no new deadlines for the 2026 round and did not say any step would be shortened. What leaders offered was a commitment to plan, fund and report on work more clearly. If that holds, applicants and businesses should at least get better explanations of where things stand and why.
If you run a business, the practical point is brand protection. With hundreds of brand endings and many generic words in play, it is worth checking the published list for names close to your own. Watch the comment and objection period that follows the November 17 list, since that is when outside parties can raise concerns.
For everyday users, the AI warnings matter more. If agents and scammers flood the domain system with new registrations, ICANN’s speed on DNS abuse will shape how many fake shopping and login sites reach your inbox.
Its chair and CEO pledged to adapt faster, improve accountability and be clearer about how strategy, budgets and priorities turn into real work. No specific new deadlines were announced.
Not on any announced timetable. The 2026 round continues with its final string list due November 17, followed by a public comment and objection period.
No. Existing domains are unaffected. Brand owners may want to scan the new application list for names similar to theirs.
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