Posted:

The internet is convinced Elon MuskâÂÂs xAI trolled OpenAIâÂÂs âÂÂDotsâ launch
On Tuesday, OpenAI launched a new product called Dots, an always-on AI agent 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.
ThatâÂÂs because the domain âÂÂdot.comâ belongs to MuskâÂÂs xAI, and it currently redirects to the download page for xAIâÂÂs Grok chatbot app. According to the Whois domain owner registry, that domain name was just transferred in July.
It is entirely possible that xAI bought the domain for normal domain-buying reasons. âÂÂDotâ could be a typo of âÂÂbot,â so it nabbed it to grab mistyped searches. WeâÂÂve reached out to xAI and asked. But xAI doesnâÂÂt own the âÂÂbot.comâ name, nor does it own other obvious typo domains like âÂÂvot.com,â which is listed for sale.
The internetâÂÂs theory is far funnier: that Musk (or his team) pulled off a prank, getting wind of OpenAIâÂÂs new product and its name and buying the domain name.
In fact, anonymous X user and xAI watcher @birdabo (this person calls themselves âÂÂchief shitposting officer @SpaceXAIâÂÂ) was first to spot the domain name in a now-viral post. Whatever the motivation, the circumstance is funny.
And as for the âÂÂdots.comâ 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.
