\n<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, OpenAI launched a new product called Dots, an always-on AI agent<\/a> with a bubbly, blobby avatar. While the colorful avatar might evoke a smile, the biggest laugh from the launch is (we imagine) being had by Elon Musk, the former OpenAI founder who left, launched competitor Grok, and unsuccessfully sued.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because the domain \u201cdot.com\u201d belongs to Musk\u2019s xAI, and it currently redirects to the download page for xAI\u2019s Grok chatbot app. According to the Whois domain owner registry, that domain name was just transferred in July.<\/p>\n It is entirely possible that xAI bought the domain for normal domain-buying reasons. \u201cDot\u201d could be a typo of \u201cbot,\u201d so it nabbed it to grab mistyped searches. We\u2019ve reached out to xAI and asked. But xAI doesn\u2019t own the \u201cbot.com\u201d name, nor does it own other obvious typo domains like \u201cvot.com,\u201d which is listed for sale.<\/p>\n The internet\u2019s theory is far funnier: that Musk (or his team) pulled off a prank, getting wind of OpenAI\u2019s new product and its name and buying the domain name. <\/p>\n In fact, anonymous X user and xAI watcher @birdabo<\/a> (this person calls themselves \u201cchief shitposting officer @SpaceXAI<\/a>\u201c) was first to spot the domain name in a now-viral post. Whatever the motivation, the circumstance is funny.<\/p>\n And as for the \u201cdots.com\u201d domain, a more direct fit to the product name, it currently belongs to a long-defunct company. So if a petty revenge prank was really the motivation, grabbing that name, too, would be next level.<\/p>\n