On Wednesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a direct link on X: chat.com. It automatically redirects to OpenAI’s popular chatbot, ChatGPT.
Previously, the domain was owned by Dharmesh Shah, the founder and CTO of HubSpot. In early 2023, Shah acquired the chat.com domain for $10 million. However, he later revealed that he had sold the domain, without disclosing the sale details or buyer information. He did mention selling it for a higher price than what he originally paid.
“The purchase of chat.com was motivated by my belief that Chat-based UX (#ChatUX) is the future of software. Interacting with computers/software through natural language is more user-friendly. This advancement is enabled by Generative A.I,” Shah wrote in a LinkedIn post about the domain acquisition that briefly redirected to another link before being resold. Following the sale, Domain Name Wire reported that Shah hinted at flipping the domain to another interested buyer.
While the full ownership history of the domain remains unclear, domain sales database NameBio indicates that chat.com was sold for $15.5 million on March 28, 2023. This aligns with Shah’s LinkedIn post from May 25, 2023, announcing the sale after two months of ownership. OpenAI declined comment to The Verge; Shah did not respond to comment requests in time for publication. According to TechCrunch, OpenAI confirmed the domain acquisition.
The removal of “GPT” from the chat.com domain aligns with OpenAI’s recent rebranding. In September, the company introduced a new series of reasoning models starting with “o1.” Former chief research officer Bob McGrew expressed hope that the o1 series would signal a shift to more comprehensible names to better convey the company’s work. However, TechCrunch noted that ChatGPT is not being hosted on chat.com, indicating that this does not signify an official name change.
The trend of individuals acquiring “vanity domains” dates back to the early days of the internet. Recently, AI startup Friend invested $1.8 million in the domain friend.com after securing $2.5 million in funding. For OpenAI, spending over $10 million is minor considering their $6.6 billion recent funding round.
