OpenAI buys chat.com domain for over $10 million

In early 2023, Dharmesh Shah, the founder and CTO of HubSpot, acquired the domain chat.com for $15.5 million, believing that chat-based user experiences would become crucial in software development. However, just a few months later, he sold the domain for a profit but did not disclose the sale's details or the buyer's identity. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, announced on social media that chat.com now redirects to ChatGPT, confirming that the company was the purchaser. Shah suggested that the payment for the domain might have been made in shares rather than cash, indicating a strategic partnership between the two entities. This domain acquisition aligns with OpenAI's rebranding efforts, aimed at making their technologies more approachable and communicative to users. With OpenAI recently raising substantial funds totaling $6.6 billion, the purchase of the domain, although significant, represents a small expense in the broader scope of their investments and strategies. As the tech industry evolves and natural language interfaces become increasingly prominent, this move is seen as a forward-thinking decision by OpenAI to bolster their position in the generative AI market.