Elon Musk Acquires ai.com and Other Top Domains, Ending OpenAI's Ownership

Elon Musk has bought the ai.com domain, which was previously owned by OpenAI after the latter spent $11 million to acquire it in March to make AI synonymous with ChatGPT.

Now, entering ai.com redirects to Musk’s new company x.AI instead of ChatGPT.

Netizens humorously note that the domain name appears to automatically change to “x.ai” after redirection.

Comments on social media range from jokes about forgetting to change the domain to surprise at the sudden switch.

OpenAI originally bought ai.com for $11 million in March, making it one of the most expensive domain acquisitions, but the domain changed hands again shortly after.

OpenAI’s purchase was intended to cement AI as a synonym for ChatGPT, yet traffic data shows a sharp decline in ChatGPT usage: from a 131.6% month‑over‑month growth in January to just 2.8% in May, with a 38% drop in visits by June 20.

Speculation suggests the domain sale may be due to declining user numbers and the company’s shift toward using “GPT” as its brand, including a pending trademark application for GPT‑5.

Musk’s history of buying premium domains includes the 2017 $5 million purchase of x.com from PayPal and a $11 million acquisition of Tesla.com.

Other high‑value domain sales include Block.one’s $30 million purchase of Voice.com in 2019.

Now Musk controls ai.com, x.ai, and x.com, prompting some netizens to suspect a publicity stunt or speculation about the true ownership of ai.com.

There is no official confirmation yet, and observers note that if Musk had indeed bought the domain, he would likely announce it publicly on Twitter.

Reference links:

1. https://techstartups.com/2023/08/02/elon-musk-buys-ai-com-from-openai-just-4-months-after-chatgpt-creator-acquired-the-domain-for-11-million/

2. https://analyticsindiamag.com/musk-buys-ai-com-from-openai/

3. https://mashable.com/article/chatgpt-monthly-traffic-decline

4. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/openai-files-trademark-application-gpt-5/493040/#close/

5. https://mashable.com/article/chatgpt-ai-dot-com-domain-name-openai/