Internet spots that Elon Musk's xAI owns the domain matching OpenAI's new 'Dots' product
After OpenAI launched its new AI agent 'Dots' on Tuesday, users noticed that the domain 'dot.com' belongs to Elon Musk's xAI and redirects to its Grok chatbot download page, fueling speculation of an intentional prank.
On Tuesday, OpenAI unveiled 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 to a curious detail: who owns the matching domain name.
It turns out the domain 'dot.com' belongs to xAI, the company founded by Elon Musk, OpenAI's former co-founder who departed, launched rival chatbot Grok, and later filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against OpenAI. The domain currently redirects visitors to the download page for xAI's Grok app.
Domain changed hands in July
According to the Whois domain registry, ownership of 'dot.com' was transferred just this past July. One possible explanation is that xAI acquired it as a simple typo-catcher, since 'dot' could easily be mistyped for 'bot,' capturing users who misspell their searches.
That explanation looks less convincing given that xAI does not own 'bot.com' itself, nor other obvious typo domains such as 'vot.com,' which remains listed for sale.
A prank theory takes hold online
A far more popular theory circulating online suggests Musk or his team learned in advance about OpenAI's upcoming product and its name, then deliberately bought the domain as a jab at his former company. An anonymous X user going by @birdabo, who describes themselves as a close watcher of xAI activity, was reportedly the first to spot and post about the domain, and the post quickly went viral.
Notably, the domain 'dots.com,' which would match the product name even more directly, currently belongs to a long-defunct company and has not been acquired by xAI.
As of now, xAI has not issued an official explanation for why it holds the 'dot.com' domain.
