In a recent news, ChatGPT’s Parent Company, Open AI has acquired the domain chat.com, adding to its high-domain collections. As of now, the domain, chat.com redirects to ChatGPT Website.
The news first surfaced when Open AI’s founder Sam Altman posted about the acquisition on X on Thursday, November 7, 2024. The post currently has over 9.5+ Million Views and 20K+ Likes. Below is the excerpt of his post on X;
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 6, 2024
The news followed up when the previous owner of the domain (chat.com), reposted the post by Sam Altman on his profile. Here’s the embeded X post;
BREAKING NEWS: Secret acquirer of $15+ million domain chat .com revealed and it's exactly who you'd think.
For those of you that have been following me for a while, you may recall that I announced earlier this year that I had acquired the domain chat .com for an "8 figure sum"… https://t.co/nv1IyddP5z
— dharmesh (@dharmesh) November 6, 2024
Chat.com was previously reported to have been acquired in 2023 by Dharmesh Shah, Co-Founder and CTO at HubSpot for $15.5m. This domain transaction now ranks among the top two all-time publicly reported domain sales.
Shah did not reveal the exact sale price but previously mentioned he “sold it for more than I paid.” In his Wednesday post, he suggested that the deal included receiving shares in OpenAI.
Related: Boardy’s AI-Powered Networking Platform Secures $3M In Pre-Seed Funding
On Further Inquiry, he did not reveal the amount he sold the domain for but he did give a GPT-01 prompt that gives an approximate value.
“I know many are curious about the sale price, so here’s a prompt that GPT-01 handles with great reasoning.” – Dharmesh Shah, Former Chat.com Domain Owner
PROMPT STARTS HERE
ROLE: You are a smart, curious person exploring the Internet.
CONTEXT: Here are the facts:
- Dharmesh purchased chat.com for $15.5M for a project and rarely sells domains.
- When he does sell, it’s almost never at a loss.
- OpenAI was the ideal buyer for this domain, so he decided to sell it.
- He has known Sam for over a decade, predating OpenAI.
- Dharmesh avoids profiting from friends and dislikes referring to himself in the third person.
- He has consistently expressed admiration for OpenAI: its platform, developer experience, and the company.
- He once boasted that he’s now an OpenAI investor.
Financially, he’s doing well and doesn’t need the money from a domain sale.
Based on this information, how much do you think he sold the chat.com domain for? What portion of the payment was in OpenAI shares? Provide an estimated range and reasoning.
This purchase reflects OpenAI’s strategy to strengthen its branding. It helps secure its place in the competitive AI landscape. The move comes after a $6.6 billion funding round in October, which valued the company at $157 billion.
