OpenAI completed a major acquisition that does not concern patents or AI-related startups: This is the purchase of chat.com, one of the oldest domains on the Internet, registered in September 1996. From now on, you can type it in the browser bar and directly access the ChatGPT home page. It’s not yet clear how much the total outlay amounted to, but the amount should be higher than the initial payment of the previous owner, Dharmesh Shah, co-founder and chief technology officer of HubSpot, of 15.5 million.
An investment with vision
Chat.com has a very special place on the web; It was one of the pioneers and is currently among the top places for the most expensive domains valued in 2023, only behind voice.com and 360.com. Last year, Shah acquired it and justified his purchase with the belief that “chats were the next evolution of the software” for a company of the stature of HubSpot, specialized in customer service and marketing. This argument coincided with the rise of large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT.
In March, Shah revealed that he had put the domain up for sale to an “anonymous buyer” whose identity was revealed yesterday in a tweet by CEO Sam Altman. Altman and Shah have known each other for a decade and, therefore, this relationship of trust could have facilitated the transaction. The HubSpot co-founder confirmed Altman’s tweet, although he did not ratify the amount for which chat.com was awarded; He even stated that “many are curious to know the price of the sale”, there is speculation on social networks that it could have been paid with OpenAI shares, but so far it has not been confirmed.
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Such a short and powerful domain is a very valuable weapon for an online service, as it can also serve to improve search engine positioning. OpenAI has shown its intentions to expand its business, expand its operations, reorganize its structure and build a chatbot capable of emerging as the most powerful on the entire internet. In 2025, the company plans to adopt a fully commercial approach, moving away from the non-profit organization under which it was founded in 2015.
ChatGPT’s new ‘Canvas’ interface can suggest writing and code improvements, as well as make changes inline.
Among the most expensive domains
The figure is not yet clear and it is difficult to speculate that it is higher than that of the current owner of the most expensive domain, that is, cars.com, which was acquired for $872 million in 2017. by Gannet Co, for its car purchasing portal. The second domain is voice.com, sold for $30 million in 2019, and 360.com sold for $17 million in 2015.
Article originally published in WIRED Italy. Adapted by Alondra Flores.
#OpenAI #buys #chat.com #domain #milliondollar #figure #redirect #ChatGPT
