This startup chose a valuable .com over the matching .ai domain.
Decades before today’s artificial intelligence boom, an MIT professor created a simple chatbot program called Eliza. Now, a new AI startup has adopted the historic name and secured the matching .com.
Eliza founder Stephen Garden said he was drawn to the name Eliza because of its place in chatbot history. He also believes that female first names make strong brands because they feel more personable.
One of his earlier ventures used the first name Onica. Garden said the name performed well for his company. (Rackspace acquired Onica.)
Garden first looked into acquiring Eliza.com about 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 new AI company and reached out to the domain owner through domain broker Tracy Fogarty.
Reflex Publishing owned the domain. The company 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 said.
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 said the company 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 said his fallback was eliza.io, and he has not run into the same technical problems with .io that he experienced with .ai.
Although the acquisition was no doubt expensive, Garden believes the right name will pay dividends.
He said the company benefits from a domain that carries positive associations in the AI world, and hopes that it will help his company succeed.
Source: https://domainnamewire.com/
