The internet is convinced Elon Musk’s xAI trolled OpenAI’s ‘

Key Takeaways

• In Brief Posted: 3:20 PM PDT · September 29, 2026 Image Credits:Sean Gallup / Getty Images On Tuesday, OpenAI launched a new product called Dots, an a
• 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
• com” belongs to Musk’s xAI, and it currently redirects to the download page for xAI’s 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

In Brief

Posted:

3:20 PM PDT · September 29, 2026

**Image Credits:**Sean Gallup / Getty Images

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.

That’s because the domain “dot.com” belongs to Musk’s xAI, and it currently redirects to the download page for xAI’s 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. “Dot” could be a typo of “bot,” so it nabbed it to grab mistyped searches. We’ve reached out to xAI and asked. But xAI doesn’t own the “bot.com” name, nor does it own other obvious typo domains like “vot.com,” which is listed for sale.

The internet’s theory is far funnier: that Musk (or his team) pulled off a prank, getting wind of OpenAI’s new product and its name and buying the domain name.

In fact, anonymous X user and xAI watcher @birdabo (this person calls themselves “chief shitposting officer @SpaceXAI“) was first to spot the domain name in a now-viral post. Whatever the motivation, the circumstance is funny.

And as for the “dots.com” 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.

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What is The internet is convinced Elon Musk’s xA?

Before OpenAI launched its new AI agent, Dots, on Tuesday, Elon Musk's xAI had already acquired the domain name "dot.com," which now redirects to the Grok chatbot download page.

Originally reported by TechCrunch. Enhanced and optimized for search by TechVeb.