OpenAI bought the domain name chat.com, confirmed by Sam Altman’s tweet and Hubspot cofounder and CTO Dharmesh Shah’s newsletter.
Shah sold the four-letter URL to an undisclosed buyer in May 2023. He had only bought it himself two months earlier, in an eight-figure sum deal later reported as being $15.5 million. “Well, Sam Altman just confirmed (in true minimalist fashion) that OpenAI was the buyer,” said Shah, referencing Altman’s tweet about the May 2023 acquisition of chat.com.
“I don’t usually sell domain names,” explained Shah, “but if I make a profit on this one, will make a large donation to Sal Khan and Khan Academy (which I’m a huge fan of).”
The amount Shah sold the name to OpenAI for has not been disclosed, but may have included OpenAI shares, especially because Shah, who said he has “known Sam for over a decade,” admits to not being comfortable profiting off friends and having, “always wanted to own OpenAI shares.” He added that, “sometimes, the perfect outcome isn’t about maximizing dollars.”
Is OpenAI rebranding ChatGPT to Chat?
Chat.com now redirects to ChatGPT.com (as does ai.com). But what does this domain name acquisition mean for OpenAI, ChatGPT, and its 200 million weekly active users?
There’s speculation that Chat is the name for a brand new OpenAI product. But a more logical explanation is that the purchase is a play for dominance, with a rebrand of its flagship tool.
It’s no secret that OpenAI’s product naming team hasn’t made an effort so far, with Altman himself admitting ChatGPT needs a serious “naming scheme revamp.” GPT stands for generative pre-trained transformer, a type of large language model, but the initialism hardly rolls off the tongue. Then there are several model names to contend with. Whether you’re talking about 3.5, 3.5 turbo, 4, 4-o or 4-o mini, you have to add a clunky suffix.
Entrepreneurs using ChatGPT often struggle with its name. I’ve heard ChatGTP, ChatGDP (search that term in Google and you’ll see what I mean), and other variations of letters. Some give up altogether. Others call it “Chad,” “Chattie” or make up their own name for the AI tool.
The Marketing Society’s CEO Sophie Devonshire calls ChatGPT “Jett.” Arvid Lorimer-Olsson, a member of the OpenAI developer community, tried to get the AI tool to give itself a simpler name, suggesting Odin or Michael, with ChatGPT evaluating “that the most suitable name was Odin.”
When you use ChatGPT a lot, you can’t waste time with four syllables. A growing number of founders wipe the letters off all together, making “Chat” a logical new name.
Will “chat” replace “google” as the verb for “search”
Consider the potential rebrand alongside the latest functionality upgrade to ChatGPT and it makes more sense. The AI tool can now access the internet in real time. Operational as a search engine, and touted “the Google killer” (along with Perplexity), ChatGPT as a name just won’t cut it.
If the tool has plans to obliterate Google, it needs a slicker name. “Google” is both a noun and a verb. “ChatGPT” is not. If OpenAI doesn’t move fast, users will talk about how they “googled it in ChatGPT.” A branding nightmare on all fronts, and a mouthful to say.
Plus, Google has its own AI-powered search. As this functionality becomes commoditized, brand power is key.
Here’s what this four letter domain name purchase could mean: ChatGPT gets rebranded to Chat, which becomes the new name for the entire tool, incorporating ChatGPT, DALL·E, every model number, and internet search. “Chat” becomes a term that means, “I used ChatGPT to do it,” as well as the name of the tool.
In a user’s mind, Chat is a person. It doesn’t just give you search results, it considers your request and presents answers as part of a conversation. Chat is more similar to Jeeves, the “gentleman’s personal gentleman” of Ask Jeeves early internet fame (which rebranded as ask.com).
Product names matter: secure your domain name
Whatever happens, one thing is clear. Naming your product is an important step. If it’s too confusing, long or complicated to say or spell, or just isn’t that good, people will make up their own. You lose control and power. Reserving a space in the heads of your customer with a uniform, on-brand term costs cash or shares, especially if you don’t get the right URL from the start.
As we wait to see what OpenAI does, let this be the product naming lesson we all needed to learn.
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