Most expensive domain: OpenAI acquires Chat.com for over $15 Million

In a landmark domain transaction, HubSpot’s co-founder and CTO, Dharmesh Shah, recently sold the prized domain chat.com to OpenAI in a deal reportedly worth over USD 15 million. Acquired by Shah in 2023 with the vision of it becoming a prime hub for conversational AI, chat.com has now taken on new life as the primary address for ChatGPT, OpenAI’s flagship conversational AI tool.

Although Shah initially kept the buyer under wraps, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman later confirmed the acquisition, sharing a link on X (formerly Twitter) that directed users straight to ChatGPT on chat.com.

In a LinkedIn post, Shah hinted that the sale, structured in the eight-figure range, was carried out in shares rather than cash—a nod to his confidence in OpenAI’s vision and long-standing relationship with Altman. “I always wanted to own OpenAI shares,” Shah noted, explaining that both his friendship with Altman and his trust in OpenAI’s direction made shares a logical choice over a cash payout.

Reflecting on his original reasons for acquiring chat.com, Shah described his excitement about the future of “chat-based UX,” which he sees as transformative for human-computer interaction. “Using natural language to communicate with software is far more intuitive,” Shah observed, emphasizing how generative AI has redefined this space. He called chat.com a “brilliant” domain for its simplicity and the trust it inspires, anticipating it would naturally become a platform for a widely used product.

This acquisition also aligns with OpenAI’s broader rebranding efforts. In September, the company began moving away from the “GPT” brand, introducing a new line of models under the “o1” series—an indication of their intent to simplify and reframe product names as they expand.