OpenAI Acquires Premium Chat.com Domain From HubSpot Co-Founder
OpenAI officially purchases the highly valuable Chat.com domain, which now redirects users directly to ChatGPT. The deal likely involves HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah receiving OpenAI shares for the historic web address.
OpenAI expands its digital real estate by acquiring the premium domain Chat.com, which now automatically redirects visitors to ChatGPT. An OpenAI spokesperson confirms the purchase, although the company keeps the exact financial details of the transaction completely private. The historic web address stands out as one of the oldest domains on the internet, originally registered back in September 1996.
HubSpot co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah serves as the previous owner of this highly coveted domain, having purchased it last year for a reported $15.5 million. Shah reveals on social media that OpenAI is the unnamed buyer he referenced in March, strongly implying that he receives OpenAI shares as payment rather than traditional cash. This massive sale ranks among the top two highest publicly reported domain purchases of all time.
Despite the high-profile acquisition, technical records show the domain does not actually change hosting, meaning OpenAI simply uses it as a forwarding link rather than a full brand replacement. Users who type Chat.com into their browsers seamlessly land on the standard ChatGPT interface without any noticeable rebranding. This strategy allows OpenAI to capture valuable web traffic from users naturally searching for chat-related AI tools.