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

On Tuesday, OpenAI introduced an always-on artificial intelligence agent featuring a blobby, colorful avatar named Dots. Following the release, observers noted that the internet believes Elon Musk’s xAI trolled the announcement because the domain “dot.com” currently redirects users to the download page for xAI’s Grok chatbot application.

According to the Whois domain owner registry, the domain was transferred in July. While xAI might have purchased the address for standard reasons, such as capturing searches for a likely typo of “bot,” the timing sparked widespread speculation about a prank. An anonymous user on X, @birdabo, initially highlighted the domain redirection in a viral post.

Meanwhile, the exact domain matching OpenAI's product name, “dots.com,” remains owned by a long-defunct company. As of reporting, inquiries sent to xAI regarding the purchase motivation have not been detailed with a response.