New Delhi: Indian-origin entrepreneur Dharmesh Shah, co-founder and CTO of HubSpot, has made headlines with his sale of the highly coveted domain name “chat.com” to OpenAI for over $15 million. This strategic acquisition now redirects directly to OpenAI’s flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, marking another step in OpenAI’s push to streamline access to its popular AI services.
The sale was revealed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman’s concise announcement, “chat.com,” hinted at the acquisition, quickly catching the attention of tech enthusiasts. Shah followed up with a response, confirming he was the seller of the domain. While he did not disclose the exact sale amount, he noted it exceeded his initial purchase price from 2023 when he acquired chat.com for an eight-figure sum, widely reported at $15.5 million.
Shah’s excitement about the sale was palpable as he shared details on X, playfully framing the announcement as “BREAKING NEWS” and teasing that the buyer was “exactly who you’d think.” Shah had previously kept the buyer’s identity under wraps, respecting confidentiality until OpenAI was ready to make the announcement. With Altman’s tweet, the acquisition became public, solidifying OpenAI’s intentions for the domain. Shah added, “In an 8-character tweet (talk about brevity), Sam Altman…revealed that they were the buyer. If you visit the website now, it goes to ChatGPT.”
Vision Behind Chat.com: A Bet on Chat-Based User Experiences
Shah initially purchased chat.com in 2023 with a forward-looking vision: he believed that chat-based user interfaces, often referred to as ChatUX, would be the next breakthrough in software interaction. Sharing his insights on LinkedIn at the time, he explained that natural language-driven user experiences could redefine how people interact with software, allowing for more intuitive and efficient engagement.
“The reason I bought chat.com is simple: I think Chat-based UX (#ChatUX) is the next big thing in software,” Shah wrote. He envisioned that with the rise of generative AI, communication with digital platforms would become more conversational, reducing reliance on traditional interfaces.
With OpenAI now the official owner, chat.com’s integration with ChatGPT aligns with Shah’s predictions about the future of digital interactions. The site’s redirection to ChatGPT reinforces the idea of accessible, conversational AI, a move that could make ChatGPT even more widely adopted.
Shah’s successful venture into domain acquisition and subsequent sale to OpenAI signals the growing value of intuitive digital interactions and the role of high-profile domains in facilitating mainstream access to AI technology.
