If you’ve been on the Internet for any amount of time at all, then you should already be familiar with top-level domains (TLD). That’s the .com at the end of a website’s address, although there are quite a few flavours of TLDs by now, including the more unusual options like .art, .pizza, .tech, and the like. Now, it seems that Telegram may be staking its claim on the .gram TLD.

In an X post, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov revealed that the company has submitted its application for the domain to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). According to Durov, if the application is successful, its one-billion-strong user base will have access to their own second-level domains. Basically, usernames like @durov would map to durov.gram. The post also went on to assert that users would be able to set up their own interactive websites, which would be hosted by Telegram. Notably, the plan seems to include the creation of custom websites using prompts, which suggests that the company intends to include an AI component in the feature.

Although Durov’s announcement made no mention of it, Telegram having its own TLD could address certain issues. About a month ago, the messaging platform’s t.me shortlinks stopped working for around 19 hours. This was due to a serverHold block placed on the domain. Now, t.me relies on the .me TLD, which Telegram does not own. The company ended up publicly asking the .me registry to look into the problem. So, owning .gram would eliminate its dependency on third-party operators and mitigate registry-level disruptions.

But of course, this all hinges on whether Telegram successfully acquires the domain. ICANN closed this year’s round of applications for generic TLDs last week, and will only disclose the list of applicants a few months later. Furthermore, Telegram is not the only entity angling for .gram. A company by the name of Link Freedom Group has also reportedly applied for the TLD. In any case, even if Telegram is successful, it will probably be a while before the promised features roll out.

(Source: Pavel Durov via X, Domain Name Wire)

Updated 2:26 pm, Wed, 19 August 26