FULL INTERVIEW: Why I Spent $70M to Buy AI.com

Podcast: TBPN
Hosts: John Coogan & Jordi Hays
Guest: Victor Shaburov (entrepreneur and domain investor)
Date: February 11, 2026

Overview

In this engaging episode, John Coogan and Jordi Hays sit down with Victor Shaburov, the mastermind behind the record-breaking $70 million acquisition of the AI.com domain and the viral Super Bowl ad launch. Shaburov discusses the strategic thinking, high-stakes decisions, and long-term vision driving AI.com, reflecting on past successes—including the purchase of crypto.com—and elaborates on his approach to consumer AI products. The conversation is candid, punctuated by honest insights into building tech giants, navigating domain deals, and bringing new products to millions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origin Story of AI.com ([00:18]-[01:44])

• How Victor Discovered AI.com

  • Victor bought a different domain, and the broker informed him AI.com was on the market.
  • “I immediately recognized the importance of it and just jumped on it, got on the phone the same day, got the deal done… there were some ups and downs, but we managed to get this done.” — Victor Shaburov [00:40]

• His Previous Big Bet: Crypto.com

  • Shaburov reminisces buying crypto.com for $12 million during the 2018 crypto bear market—a bold move at the time.
  • “It was about a third of our capital and it was bang in the middle of the 2018 bear market. So people were discussing whether crypto is going to survive or not.” — Victor Shaburov [01:18]

2. The Vision for AI.com ([02:08]-[02:50])

• Initial Purpose Behind the Purchase
  • Even before a product existed, the goal was clear: an AI-powered, "chief-of-staff" assistant for billions—proactive, context-aware, life-management.
  • “We want to build a consumer product. We believe that you have 4 billion people having personal assistants that should play the role of kind of a chief of staff for your entire life… The vision didn’t change from day one.” — Victor Shaburov [02:08]

3. Product Development & Integration Lessons ([02:50]-[04:15])

• Adapting to Technology Shifts

  • Building began in mid-2025; initial efforts struggled until advances like Opus 4.5 and Cloudbot changed the game.
  • Key challenges: intuitive setup, serious security/data privacy concerns, reducing technical friction for consumers.

• Imminent Launch

  • “We are combining everything that we’ve built over the last, say, eight months… we are starting doing this tomorrow.” — Victor Shaburov [03:12]

4. The Super Bowl Ad Gamble ([04:15]-[07:18])

• Super Bowl Ad as Global Stage

  • Victor purchased the ad spot early with only a domain and idea, products followed much later.
  • “We only have one shot to get this done correctly… These things need to be able to develop an emotional connection with the product in order for this to be sticky and retentive.” — Victor Shaburov [05:04]

• Last-Minute Decision Making

  • Only weeks before the Super Bowl did AI.com decide to use the spot for the new product—and the ad truly was made on the fly.

• Technical Challenges and Massive Spike

  • 300,000 sign-ups on launch day, some site outages, but generally a technical win under extreme pressure.
  • “We’ve got a great DevOps team… there were intermittent problems for some people, but largely it held up. So I think fundamentally it’s the name and… curiosity.” — Victor Shaburov [07:49]

5. The Consumer AI Opportunity ([08:25]-[10:21])

• Finding the Consumer “Killer App”

  • Discussion about break-out moments for AI assistants—making them genuinely useful, sticky, and intuitive.
  • “Fundamentally you’re able to actually get stuff done right now. So that’s a big differentiating factor for the user experience… The fact that every single person on earth is going to have an assistant of this opens up new interactions…” — Victor Shaburov [09:02]

• Long-Term, User-Led Product Iteration

  • Shaburov believes in rapidly iterating based on feedback, just as in his crypto days, but with a far bigger potential market.

6. Open Source vs. Business Integrations ([10:21]-[12:04])

• Open Ecosystem Challenges
  • The complexity of building universal AI that integrates across platforms—balancing open-source power vs. the need to cut business deals (e.g., with Meta/WhatsApp).
  • “We want to stand on the side of the consumer and help them make these technical choices, make sure that their data is safe… and that they can do what they want to do…” — Victor Shaburov [11:31]

7. Onboarding, Privacy, and Gamification ([12:04]-[13:37])

• User Concerns about Privacy

  • Hosts share feedback about the Google login requirement; Victor acknowledges friction and says they’re trying to make onboarding simple while maintaining privacy.

• First Use Case Ambitions

  • The aim is to get users to experience value pronto—ideally by syncing their email/calendar to see the assistant’s power.
  • “You need to gamify it until such point where users are deep enough that it actually gives them the feeling of like wow, this is special, this is different.” — Victor Shaburov [12:53]

8. The AI.com Domain Saga and the $500M+ Offer ([14:02]-[15:10])

• Backstory

  • Original AI.com owner held the domain for 30 years; there was a bidding war, with big companies interested.

• Turning Down a Massive Profit

  • After closing, Victor received an offer of “$500 million plus,” possibly even $1B.
  • “I think I could have pushed it to a billion if I wanted to, but I didn’t want to. So I think you guys need to understand I am pot committed. I love it.” — Victor Shaburov [14:42]

9. Future Plans: Foundation Models? ([15:37]-[16:07])

• AI Infrastructure

  • Focus is on product scaling and building user trust before considering building their own foundational models.

• Long-Term Commitment

  • “Our users don’t really care about which model runs in the background as long as the job gets done and their data is safe. But once you get to a certain scale, who knows?” — Victor Shaburov [15:43]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Timing is really important in life skill. Timing and luck, combination of these things.” — Victor Shaburov [06:08]
• “You need to solve a whole litany of issues to make it consumer friendly. Like how do you set it up without being technical? The security issues around your data. Those are serious, serious issues when you want to bring something to the mass market.” — Victor Shaburov [03:12]
• “The conviction to turn down what would have been turning 70 million into 500 or a billion in 24 hours is admirable.” — Tech Podcast Host [15:10]

Fun, Lighthearted Moments

• Hosts joke about being “the mayor of Los Angeles” by virtue of the crypto.com arena naming rights ([16:38])
• Chris Dixon recommends Victor attend Lakers games or even better, a monster truck rally at the arena ([16:54]-[17:07])

Important Segment Timestamps (MM:SS)

• [00:40] — Victor’s discovery & acquisition of AI.com
• [01:18] — The story behind crypto.com
• [02:08] — The product vision for AI.com personal assistant
• [03:12] — Breakthroughs with Opus 4.5 and cloudbot
• [04:45] — Deciding to go big with a Super Bowl ad
• [07:18] — Handling 300k signups and technical challenges
• [09:02] — How AI assistants can finally “get stuff done”
• [14:42] — Turning down a giant post-acquisition offer (“pot committed”)
• [15:43] — On the eventuality of training their own foundation model

Summary

This episode gives a rare, inside look at the high-stakes world of premium domain deals and ambitious tech launches. Victor Shaburov’s journey—from the nerve-wracking $12M purchase of crypto.com, through the $70M AI.com saga, all the way to a game-changing Super Bowl launch—illustrates what it means to think and build at internet scale. It's a story of vision, timing, technical boldness, and the belief that the next 10 years of AI will far outstrip everything we’ve seen before.

For listeners interested in startup strategy, domain investing, and the cutting edge of consumer AI, this interview is essential.