ogopenai Domain Redirects to Chinese AI Lab

Domain Redirects to Rising AI Lab

The website “OGOpenAI.com” has been acquired by a software engineer and is now redirecting traffic to DeepSeek, a Chinese AI laboratory gaining prominence within the open source AI community.

Acquisition and Intent

Ananay Arora, the software engineer responsible for the purchase, revealed to TechCrunch that the domain was obtained for a cost of less than that of a meal at Chipotle. He further indicated his intention to resell the domain at a higher price point.

A Nod to Open Source Origins

This action appears to be a deliberate reference to DeepSeek’s practice of releasing advanced, open AI models, mirroring OpenAI’s approach during its initial stages.

Like earlier OpenAI models such as Point-E and Jukebox, DeepSeek’s offerings can be utilized without cost by developers possessing the required computing resources, and can function offline.

DeepSeek-R1 and Industry Response

DeepSeek recently garnered significant attention with the release of an open-source version of its DeepSeek-R1 model.

The company asserts that this model surpasses OpenAI’s o1 in performance on specific benchmarks.

Currently, OpenAI infrequently makes its leading AI technologies available in an open format, a practice that has drawn scrutiny from certain segments of the AI sector.

Lawsuit and Original Mission

This reluctance to openly release its most powerful models is even a point of contention in a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk.

Musk alleges that OpenAI is deviating from its initial commitment as a nonprofit organization.

Inspiration from Perplexity’s CEO

Arora stated that his decision was prompted by a now-removed post on X (formerly Twitter) from Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity.

Srinivas had drawn parallels between DeepSeek and the earlier, more “open” OpenAI.

“I thought, hey, it would be cool to have [the] domain go to DeepSeek for fun,” Arora explained to TechCrunch via direct message.

Growing Chinese AI Presence

DeepSeek now stands alongside Alibaba’s Qwen as one of the Chinese AI labs providing open-source alternatives to OpenAI’s models.

Implications of AI Development

Despite ongoing efforts by the U.S. government to restrict China’s AI development through chip export controls, the latest AI models emerging from the country suggest that further measures may be necessary.

These advancements indicate a continued push for innovation within the Chinese AI landscape.