In the era of “app supremacy,” one might wonder why AI companies are still splurging on domain names. On November 24, 2024, at 9:41 am, while some AI companies shout about taking down websites and apps, they are actually spending hundreds of millions on snapping up domain names. Elon Musk once called x.com “the best domain name on Earth,” which he bought back from PayPal for $5 million in 2017 and later renamed and reshaped Twitter as X. Now, with the rise of the AI wave, the domain name battle is heating up again, and prices are soaring. Friend Company spent $1.8 million on friend.com. OpenAI paid over $15 million for chat.com, with a cumulative investment of over several hundred million yuan.
OpenAI spent $15.5 million to buy chat.com. This may seem unbelievable, especially since young people are more accustomed to using apps. But behind this is the battle for search entry points. With the rise of generative AI, people are starting to find answers by “chatting a bit.” In the field of generative AI, “chat” has become an important keyword. Directly entering chat.com can access ChatGPT. This simple experience is crucial for expanding the user base. At the same time, it is also a defensive strategy to prevent users from misspelling and directing traffic to competitors. The seller of chat.com is Dharmesh Shah, co-founder of HubSpot. He once purchased connect.com for $10 million and has a unique perspective on the value of high-quality domain names. In the transaction, he not only received cash but also shares of OpenAI.
The ownership of ai.com is rather mysterious. Rumors say that OpenAI bought it for $11 million in 2023, but this has not been officially confirmed. Domain name broker Saw.com shows that it was once owned by Future Media Architects. Currently, it is in a privacy protection state, and its resolution target is fickle, making people suspect it is a marketing game by the domain name holder.
While the AI field is burning money, Anguilla is reaping the benefits by having the country domain name suffix “.ai.” ICANN allocated “.ai” to Anguilla according to international standards. With the rise of the AI startup wave, the country’s domain name revenue skyrocketed from $1 million in 2017 to $32 million in 2023, accounting for more than 10% of GDP. In 2023, domain name revenue reached one-fifth of the government’s total revenue. Many AI startup companies choose “.ai” as their digital identity. Anguilla has hitched a ride on the technology revolution express, and its GDP growth is expected to reach 6.95% in 2024.
Domestic AI companies are taking a “roundabout way” in domain name layout. The official website of Moonshot is moonshot.cn. The owner of moonshot.com is John Sculley, who has written a book related to the dark side of the moon. Moonshot also owns kimi series domain names and other related domain names. Zhipu AI’s domain names are mainly practical. It has registered multiple domain names, including those related to large model evaluations and others. Minimax’s official website uses minimaxi.com because minmax.com belongs to a German fire protection company. It has also registered three domain names related to Bello. Domestic AI companies’ attitude towards domain names is that if they don’t get their desired one, they have multiple alternative plans.
So, why are AI companies still buying domain names in the era of apps dominating? The answer is complex. The core values are brand recognition and user trust. A good domain name is still an important part of a company’s strategic layout. But for startups, cost-effectiveness is more important. Product strength is the winning magic weapon. For example, although perplexity.ai has a difficult-to-remember name, it has won the love of users through product strength. As technology evolves, domain names may undergo changes. Today’s domain name battles may become a unique footnote in the history of the development of the Internet.
