The History of AI Chat: The First AI Chat on ai-snack.com in 1998

The history of AI chat starts on ai-snack.com in December 1998, when the site announced "our first AI chat" and invited visitors to talk in real time. AI.com sold for a reported $70 million in 2026, but the first AI chat was online almost three decades earlier.

Today AI chat means ChatGPT, Gemini and the agents built on them. The name itself was already on the web in 1998, on a small site that began with an email list. Visit the archive page here: artificialintelligence.com.ai.

Welcome to the new AI-Snack

The archived homepage opens with a promise: "It started as a small, modest project with an email list. But as all the ideas bubble up, the project has grown. And it will grow even more. Many of us have visions and we will do our best to explore and realize them."

Chat in AI chat

The headline feature was the chat room: "We have now introduced our first AI chat. Discuss in real time with AI friends. Why not relax with a little chat at lunch?" Beside it sat news, high scores, a contributor list and the invitation "Everyone can join!"

The site worked as a resource database for its members. Anyone who wanted to contribute could get in touch through a link at the bottom of the page, and the chat gave them a place to meet in real time.

Closed for the time being, 2001

By the September 2001 capture, the same page reads "We have now introduced our first AI chat" followed by four new words: "closed for the time being". The archive keeps 79 captures of the site between 6 December 1998 and 20 September 2021.

From the first AI chat to AI agents

The idea that began as a lunchtime chat room is now an industry. AI chat became chatbots, chatbots became assistants, and assistants are becoming agents that act for you. Our group continues that story at artificialintelligence.com.ai, with an autonomous AI agent that works around the clock.

The ai-snack.com name now sits beside Artificial Intelligence Technologies, the AI dot com names aidotcom.llc and aidotcom.si, and a-i.llc. See the ai-snack.com directory profile.