OpenAI Spends At Least $15.5 Million to Acquire Chat.com Domain Name, Exact Price Not Disclosed

Last night, news broke that OpenAI had purchased the Chat.com domain name from HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah, with Sam Altman confirming control of the domain on X/Twitter.

Currently, visiting Chat.com redirects users to ChatGPT.com, which is a significant acquisition for OpenAI given its easier recall and access compared to ChatGPT.com.

Although mobile internet traffic has surpassed desktop platforms, the domain name industry continues to operate, albeit not as booming as domain transactions once were.

Dharmesh Shah had just bought the Chat.com domain in 2023 for $15.5 million, and it's surprising that within just a year, he successfully sold it to OpenAI, indicating the domain's price was certainly not low.

OpenAI has not revealed the specific transaction price, but considering the original owner's expenditure of $15.5 million, OpenAI's offer must have been significantly higher, otherwise, the original owner surely wouldn't have sold it.

Moreover, with the selection of the Chat.com domain name, it wouldn't be surprising if the ChatGPT brand were to be adjusted in the future, perhaps directly to Chat, if OpenAI can successfully handle the trademark. The Chat brand, evidently, would be more appealing than ChatGPT.