Million Dollar Homepage vs The AI Era Homepage
In 2005, a 21-year-old student named Alex Tew launched a site called Million Dollar Homepage and sold one million pixels for $1 each. It was a simple idea: buy a tiny ad block on a giant grid, keep the page online, and let the image become a piece of internet history. The grid sold out in about five months.
What the original proved
Million Dollar Homepage worked because it combined scarcity, novelty and permanence. There were only one million pixels. Once a block was sold, it stayed sold. Buyers got a visible, permanent link back to their site. The project became a time capsule of the mid-2000s web — gambling sites, ringtone offers, early social networks and all.
The mechanics were deliberately low-friction: no accounts, no subscriptions, just pick a block and pay. That same simplicity is worth preserving.
What changed two decades later
The AI Era Homepage is a direct successor, but the context is different. The 2005 board captured the commercial web. This board is meant to capture who was building, creating and researching at the start of the AI era — the startups, labs, indie makers, newsletters, open-source projects and individual researchers that define this period.
The price is also different. At $0.25 per pixel, a 10×10 block costs $25. That keeps the barrier low while still making each claim a deliberate choice. There are no renewals and no accounts: one payment, one permanent block.
Side-by-side
| Feature | Original | The AI Era Homepage |
|---|---|---|
| Launch year | 2005 | 2026 |
| Total pixels | 1,000,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Price per pixel | $1 | $0.25 |
| Minimum block | 10×10 | 10×10 |
| Payments | PayPal | Card (Stripe) + Bitcoin (BTCPay) |
| Accounts needed | None | None |
| Renewals | None | None |
| Artwork | Any image | Optional artwork + AI safety review |
| Theme | General advertising | Startups, creators and researchers in the AI era |
| Surplus purpose | Personal income | 90% committed to cognitive-accessibility AI education |
How The AI Era Homepage works
- Design on the board. Pan and zoom the 2000×1000 canvas, then select a free 10×10 or larger rectangle.
- Add your details. Name, tagline, website link, country and optional artwork. Everything is reviewed before it goes live.
- Pay once. Choose card via Stripe or Bitcoin via BTCPay Server. The reservation is converted to a permanent block after payment confirmation.
- Get your entry. Every participant receives a public spot page, a sequential participant number, and — if among the first 100 — a Founding 100 badge.
Why a successor, and why now
The original board is still online, but it is frozen in 2005. A new era needs its own board. AI is reshaping work, creativity and research quickly enough that the people building right now will look historically interesting in hindsight. The AI Era Homepage is an attempt to record that moment while it is still happening.
It is also built differently. The entire project — canvas engine, payment flow, moderation, certificates and this page — was designed and built by one person using AI as the primary tool. You can read more about that on the About page and about the 90% surplus commitment on the Impact page.
Claim your pixels
Reserve a 10×10 block from $25, or scale up to any rectangle that fits. The first 100 confirmed participants get a permanent Founding 100 badge.
Open the design studio →