HubSpot Co-Founder Quietly Sold Chat.com to OpenAI for Shares in AI Company

Key Takeaways

• HubSpot Co-Founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah bought the chat.com domain for $15.5 million earlier this year.
• He later sold it to OpenAI for an undisclosed sum, at least some of which was paid in shares.
• Chat.com now redirects to ChatGPT.

On Wednesday, Nov. 6, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted  the URL “chat.com” on X, using the platform to reveal a new domain for ChatGPT.

Responding to the post, HubSpot Co-Founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah confirmed that he sold OpenAI the domain and that he accepted at least part of the payment in shares.

How Dharmesh Shah Flipped Chat.com

Shah initially revealed  that he had bought chat.com earlier this year when he reported that he had paid an eight-figure sum for the domain name, which was the most expensive he had ever acquired.

“The reason I bought chat.com is simple,” he said at the time, observing that AI chatbots are “the next big thing in software” and chat.com is “absolutely brilliant” in terms of simplicity, shortness, and meeting the moment.

In a follow-up post  two months later, Shah said he initially paid over $10 million for the domain but had since sold it for more.

OpenAI Splashes Out on New Web URL

Although Shah didn’t reveal the exact price OpenAI paid for chat.com, his latest X post confirmed that it was more than $15.5 million, but not that much more because he “doesn’t like profiting off of people he considers friends.”

“I know many are curious about the sale price,” he added, “so here’s a prompt that GPT o1 does a really good job of reasoning through.”

Following Shah’s instructions, ChatGPT estimated that he was paid $15.5 million to $20 million and received between 75% and 100% of the payment in equity.

What Will Happen to Old ChatGPT Domain

For now, chat.com redirects to chatgpt.com, and there is no indication that OpenAI intends to rebrand the platform.

Nevertheless, if the new domain name proves popular, it could be established as ChatGPT’s primary URL.

A more radical prospect is that OpenAI could drop the “GPT” entirely and start referring to its flagship chatbot simply as “chat.”

Given ChatGPT’s brand recognition, this could be risky, but such rebrands aren’t unheard of, like when Facebook ditched the “the” or when Dunkin’ Donuts became plain old Dunkin’.