AI startup paid up to acquire Eliza.com — Why an
This startup chose a valuable .com over the matching .ai domain.
Decades ahead of today’s artificial intelligence boom, an MIT professor created a simple chatbot program called Eliza. Now, a fresh AI startup has adopted the historic name and secured the matching .com.
Eliza founder Stephen Garden stated he was drawn to the name Eliza since of its place in chatbot history. He also believes that female first names make strong brands since they feel more personable.
One of his earlier ventures used the first name Onica. Garden stated the name performed well for his firm. (Rackspace purchased Onica.)
Garden first looked into acquiring Eliza.com regarding five years ago. At the time, he didn’t have a business plan for the domain and wasn’t willing to meet the asking price. He returned to the name earlier this year when he began building a fresh AI firm and reached out to the domain owner through domain broker Tracy Fogarty.
Reflex Publishing owned the domain. The firm is known for holding premium domains and waiting for the right buyer. Garden declined to disclose the purchase price, but given the seller and the quality of the name, it was likely a seven-figure transaction.
While many AI startups launch on .ai domains, Garden wanted the .com.
“I personally believe that .coms carry a lot more credibility,” he stated.
He added, “I also think it’s human behavior. People are used to typing .com at the end of an email address. I prefer the cleanliness, the elegance. A five-letter .com that’s a first name is an impressive one to have these days.”
Garden stated the firm aims to work with Fortune 500 clients, and securing the .com signals that Eliza is a credible and established business.
Eliza initially soft-launched on a .ai domain but encountered technical issues with some corporate firewalls, especially when it came to getting email through. Garden stated his fallback was eliza.io, and he has not run into the same technical problems with .io that he experienced with .ai.
Although the buyout was no doubt expensive, Garden believes the right name will pay dividends.
He stated the firm benefits from a domain that carries positive associations in the AI world, and hopes that it will help his firm succeed.
