Internet users suspect Elon Musk's xAI trolled OpenAI's 'Dots' launch
After OpenAI unveiled its new AI assistant 'Dots,' users noticed that the domain 'dot.com' belongs to Elon Musk's xAI and redirects to Grok's download page, sparking speculation about a deliberate prank.
On Tuesday, OpenAI introduced a new product called Dots, an always-on AI agent featuring a colorful, blob-shaped avatar. But attention quickly shifted away from the product itself toward an unrelated domain name.
It turns out that 'dot.com' belongs to Elon Musk's company xAI, and the domain currently redirects visitors to the download page for xAI's Grok chatbot app. According to the Whois domain registry, ownership of the domain was transferred in July — months before OpenAI announced Dots.
Musk was previously a co-founder of OpenAI before leaving to launch rival company Grok, and later filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against OpenAI.
Coincidence or prank?
There's a plausible mundane explanation: 'dot' could be a common typo for 'bot,' meaning xAI may have bought the domain simply to capture mistyped searches. TechCrunch has reached out to xAI for comment.
However, that theory is undercut by the fact that xAI does not own 'bot.com,' nor other obvious typo domains such as 'vot.com,' which remains listed for sale. This has fueled a more entertaining theory circulating online: that Musk or his team learned in advance about OpenAI's upcoming product and its name, then bought the matching domain preemptively.
Credit for first spotting the domain connection is being given to an anonymous X user going by @birdabo, a self-described xAI watcher whose bio jokingly labels them 'chief shitposting officer' at the company. Their post about the discovery quickly went viral.
Notably, the domain 'dots.com' — an even closer match to OpenAI's product name — currently belongs to a long-defunct company and is not in xAI's hands.
