OpenAI’s purchase of Chat.com is a smart play

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  • OpenAI acquired the URL “chat.com” which now redirects to ChatGPT.
  • HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah previously owned the domain and paid over $10 million.
  • Analysts say the move strengthens OpenAI’s global reach and consumer product positioning.

OpenAI’s splashy acquisition of a four-letter domain name is a smart strategic play, branding experts told Business Insider.

Wednesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman submitted “chat.com” on social media, a URL that now automatically redirects to ChatGPT’s website.

The domain was previously owned by HubSpot’s founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah, who confirmed that he sold the domain to OpenAI after buy it in 2023.

Although Shah did not disclose its exact sale price, he previously said he “sold it for more than I paid.” In his Wednesday post, he indicated that he had received shares in OpenAI as a result of the transaction.

OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Maybe OpenAI is trying to make ‘Chat’ the new ‘Google it’?

The latest addition to OpenAI’s domain collection, which also includes “chatGPT.com” and possibly “ai.com,” suggests a branding shift toward a broader consumer audience, branding experts told BI.

Margarita Polishchuk, Head of Strategy at Claya UI/UX design and branding agency with clients including Amazon and Google, said OpenAI is “securing and strengthening their position” with its new simplistic — and therefore stronger — domain name.

“It’s very memorable and super on point,” she told BI. “Strategically, I think for ChatGPT and OpenAI, buying a domain like this marks its shift towards a very global audience.”

While Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot also stick to one-word monikers, Gil Luria, an analyst at DA Davidson, said the domain is the “most intuitive name” for how consumers think of chatbots.

“I think the implication that we can get from this is that they might want to productize their chat as a consumer product,” he said. The new domain “could be a very significant asset in the consumer adoption of a particular technology,” he added.

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The new URL may also be the more practical result of a common linguistic error. Nicole Ferry, Head of Strategy at Sullivan NYCa brand engagement company, said she often notices people changing the letters in ChatGPT to “GTP.”

“‘ChatGTP’ actually redirects to NinjaChat AI, which is obviously not OpenAI’s product,” she said. “So having chat.com is simply just an easier URL to use in a call to action.”

She also added that the company’s decision to focus on “chat” rather than “GPT” makes the product more accessible.

“Sounds easy,” she said. “I can do that. I chat on my phone with my friends or in DMS or whatever. It feels like something I can already do versus something I have to learn.”

While “chat” has been part of the English lexicon to indicate a human interaction, Polishchuk said this marks the beginning of a “big technical shift” in how people might perceive the term.

“So now any user who isn’t really tech savvy when they type on chat.com will immerse themselves in the world of LLM and AI,” she said.

While people might not quite say “Go ChatGPT it,” Polishchuk said that acquiring a domain with just the word “chat” could make AI as ubiquitous as “Googling.”