On Tuesday, OpenAI launched a new product called Dots, an always-on AI agent featuring a bubbly avatar.
While the colorful avatar might evoke a smile, the biggest laugh from the launch is being had by Elon Musk, the former OpenAI founder who left to launch competitor Grok and has a contentious history with the company.
That is because the domain “dot.com” belongs to Musk’s xAI and currently redirects users to the download page for xAI’s Grok chatbot app. According to the Whois domain owner registry, this domain name was just transferred in July.
It is entirely possible that xAI bought the domain for normal domain-buying reasons. “Dot” could be a typo of “bot,” so it nabbed it to grab mistyped searches. We have reached out to xAI to ask for clarification. However, xAI does not own the “bot.com” name, nor does it own other obvious typo domains like “vot.com,” which is listed for sale.
The internet’s theory is far funnier: that Musk (or his team) pulled off a prank, getting wind of OpenAI’s new product and its name and buying the domain name.
In fact, an anonymous X user and xAI watcher calling themselves “chief shitposting officer@SpaceXAI” was first to spot the domain name in a now-viral post. Whatever the motivation, the circumstance is funny.
And as for the “dots.com” domain, a more direct fit to the product name, it currently belongs to a long-defunct company. So if a petty revenge prank was really the motivation, grabbing that name, too, would be next level.
A viral social media reaction captured the moment, with an X user noting, “OpenAI just announced Dots. SpaceXAI bought dot.com and it redirects straight to the Grok Bot download page. based lmao.”
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