There was a little bit of a hubbub in February because it emerged that OpenAI had seemingly bought AI.com so as to redirect it to the ChatGPT net interface. However now erstwhile backer, Twitter haver, and X lover Elon Musk seems to have taken the precious area off their arms, or else somebody has carried out it for him: AI.com now redirects to X.ai, the billionaire’s embryonic machine studying analysis outfit.
In fact domains are purchased and offered day by day. However two-letter .com domains are uncommon and extremely costly, particularly those who type phrases or acquainted abbreviations. When AI.com began redirecting to OpenAI’s website, Mashable identified that the area may hardly have offered for lower than IT.com’s $3.8 million the earlier yr, and sure attained a far larger worth given the hype round synthetic intelligence generally.
Little question OpenAI hoped that the acquisition of AI.com would flip confused URL bar typers into lifetime customers. Or maybe it supposed to finally transfer its consumer-facing operations (like ChatGPT’s net consumer) over to the shorter area. It appears we’ll by no means know, as a result of now the area goes to X.ai.
The information appears to have first been reported by Analytics India Journal (maybe a bidder itself sooner or later), however the fact is exterior the switch, there may be valuable little to say in regards to the change. It’s simply weird and costly sufficient to warrant noting right here.
X.ai continues to be a largely notional group, with a handful of teachers and engineers engaged on, one imagines, no matter Musk tells them to. Its acknowledged purpose is “to grasp the true nature of the universe,” however they haven’t made any seen progress for the reason that website went up in July. Admittedly Musk has been busy throughout that point.
What may it imply? Did Sam Altman tire of his toy? Was the plan to shift to the brand new area scrapped in favor of a brand new one? Was the sale tentative to start with, or maybe a month-to-month lease? Was there a bidding struggle, or did somebody lose curiosity?
Regardless of the case, it finally ends up simply feeling like a pair wealthy guys squabbling over a shiny object. ChatGPT is essentially the most recognizable model in AI — so why pay thousands and thousands to start out a brand new one from scratch? And X.ai is already brief and memorable (or no less than it will likely be till there are 8 different Musk firms referred to as X), and there’s nothing price on the location, so why pay a lot to redirect one other empty website? It’s price noting that OpenAI by no means did truly affirm it purchased the area, and Musk has not but, and would by no means return our emails.
Brand from a current staging website for AI.com
I’ll say that if I had $10 million and the chance to purchase AI.com, you already know what I might do? Redirect it to the apparent candidate after which dangle it in entrance of their opponents for a 50% markup. If that didn’t work, I’d change it to the rival and provide it to the primary firm. Right here’s hoping some data superhighwayman (if you’ll) had the identical brainwave and squeezed certainly one of these billionaires for a stable payday. In that case, effectively performed.
I think that in the end nobody truly cares who owns AI.com, and other people in actual fact could also be suspicious of no matter company entity controls what is clearly an arrogance area. Let’s all simply agree to not use it. That can train everybody a lesson.
