xAI's dot.com redirects to Grok as OpenAI launches Dots — SkimNews

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- OpenAI launched "Dots" on Tuesday, an always-on AI agent with a bubbly, blobby avatar.
- xAI owns the "dot.com" domain, which currently redirects to the Grok chatbot app's download page; the domain was transferred in July per Whois records.
- xAI does not own related typo domains like "bot.com" or "vot.com" (which is listed for sale), undercutting the simplest typo-grabbing explanation.
- The internet's theory holds that Elon Musk or his team bought the domain as a deliberate prank timed to OpenAI's launch.
- Anonymous X user @birdabo — who calls themselves "chief shitposting officer @SpaceXAI" — first spotted the domain transfer in a now-viral post.
- The "dots.com" domain, a closer fit to OpenAI's product name, belongs to a long-defunct company rather than xAI.
Why it matters: The dot.com domain was transferred to xAI in July — well before OpenAI's Dots launch on Tuesday — and xAI didn't grab "bot.com" or "dots.com," the more obvious typo or product-name targets, gaps the internet's prank theory hasn't fully explained.
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