AI in the Name: Why the AI Naming Boom Is Becoming a Risk

When ChatGPT arrived in late 2022, the AI boom brought a second, quieter trend with it: the names. Suddenly every product wanted to show in its very name that AI was inside. I analysed around 3 million EU trademark names, and the data shows how big this wave really is. It also shows why that same name is now becoming a problem.

The boom in one curve

Count the trademark names with AI or GPT by year and the break is obvious. Until 2022 they trickled in, after that the curve shoots up.

The number of AI names registered each year rose from around 130 on average across 2018 to 2022 to 540 in 2025. More than four times as many.

Two years beat ten

It gets even clearer when you compare before and after ChatGPT. Until the end of 2022, about 785 AI names had entered the register over decades. From 2023 onward, 1,470 were added in just over three years.

Period	AI names registered
until end of 2022 (decades)	785
from 2023 (about 3.5 years)	1,470

So two thirds of all AI names in the register only appeared after 2022. In total there are around 2,500, of which 145 carry GPT directly.

Everyone crowds into the same corner

The catch is where these names land. Around 83.5 percent of AI names sit in the software classes 9 and 42. Exactly the classes where a descriptive name is hardest to hold.

Of all companies, it was OpenAI that showed how tight it gets there. In July 2026 the EU General Court refused the OpenAI word mark as descriptive for certain software and AI services. A founder who calls their product SomethingAI today picks a name that is instantly understandable. But that understandability is the problem, because it makes the name hard to own.

Now the mood is turning too

Up to here the AI name is mostly a legal matter. Recently a second one has been added. Consumers have had enough of visible AI. A study by Rival Technologies from 13 August 2026 (901 Gen Z respondents in the US and Canada) paints a clear picture.

Reaction to recognisable AI marketing (Gen Z)	Share
have already punished a brand over it	72 %
react negatively	74 %
react positively	8 %
have stopped buying from a brand over it	43 %

This is a US consumer survey, not a figure from our register. But it captures the same movement from the other side. What sounded like progress yesterday now sounds, to many young customers, like mass production and soulless content.

Why the AI name becomes a boomerang

So the AI name is caught in a pincer. Legally it is hard to protect, because it describes instead of distinguishing. And with customers it is losing value, because AI as a marketing promise is wearing out. What was the clever shortcut three years ago turns into a double disadvantage.

Whether a single name is protectable in the end is a legal assessment, not one I make here for your case. What you can see for yourself right away is whether your desired name is already taken in the register or confusingly close to an existing mark.

What this means for founders

The obvious shortcut is taken. A name that deliberately goes against the grain stands out more, is easier to own, and ages more slowly. And whatever you decide, check early whether the name is even free before you invest in a logo, a domain and marketing.

Is your name still free?

Check your desired name live against the EU trademark register for identical and similar marks. 3 free checks per day, no sign-up.

​

Check for free

EUIPO data · Results in seconds · PDF report exportable

Methodology

We analysed around 3 million EU trademark entries (data source EUIPO, as of our own database). A name counts as an AI name if it contains AI as a standalone component, as a CamelCase ending in the style of OpenAI, or GPT. This is a deliberately conservative approximation over letter patterns, and slight inaccuracies are possible. The time series follows the registration date, which lags the application by months, which is why we put the robust two-years-versus-ten-years comparison in the foreground. The backlash figures come from the Rival study named above and are clearly marked as an external source.

Conclusion

The AI name was the quick answer to a new technology. The data shows how many arrived at it, and why it is now a disadvantage. Anyone naming a brand today gains more with a distinctive name, legally and with customers.