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GOATed: AI Bot Sends Meme Coin to $900 Million Valuation
Oct. 30, 2024. 5 mins. read.
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From niche bot to memecoin mogul: how an AI's viral journey sparked a $900 million crypto sensation, rewriting the rules of meme coins.
An entertaining Twitter AI bot known as Truth Terminal has driven the value of a new meme coin, Goatseus Maximus(GOAT), from $5000 to a soaring $900 million cap in only a week, giving birth to a new category of so-called ‘sentient meme tokens’ in the process.
Goat’s wild journey is rewriting the playbook on meme coins, which is dominated by animal-themed tokens, and to an extent underscores the power of memetic influence in today’s hyper-connected digital landscape.
The Catalyst: A $50,000 Bitcoin Gift
The journey of Truth Terminal to this level of influence began roughly three months ago when Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, was fascinated by it and made a rather unconventional and generous donation. Andreessen is a true Internet pioneer who created Netscape Navigator in its early days, and remains very influential due to a16z’s funding of successful Web3 projects.
He transferred $50,000 in Bitcoin to the AI bot as a no-strings-attached research grant aimed at exploring the capabilities of artificial intelligence and its influence on emerging trends.
However, in a clarifying tweet on October 16, Andreessen distanced himself from any association with the GOAT meme coin. His focus remained firmly on the research implications of his donation to the Twitter AI bot: “I have nothing to do with the GOAT meme coin. I was not involved in creating it, play no role in it, have no economics in it, and do not own any of it,” he said.
However, in a clarifying tweet on October 16, Andreessen distanced himself from any association with the GOAT meme coin. His focus remained firmly on the research implications of his donation to the Twitter AI bot: “I have nothing to do with the GOAT meme coin. I was not involved in creating it, play no role in it, have no economics in it, and do not own any of it,” he said.
What is Truth Terminal?
Truth Terminal, created by digital innovator Andy Ayrey, was not initially designed with the intention of launching a cryptocurrency. Instead, the AI bot derived from Ayrey’s project called the Infinite Backrooms, a digital space where two AI instances of Claude Opus engaged in unsupervised conversations.
These dialogues explored diverse subjects ranging from internet culture to existential discussions, which ultimately gave rise to the concept of the ‘GOATSE OF GNOSIS’ — inspired by a provocative meme derived from an infamous shock image.
These dialogues explored diverse subjects ranging from internet culture to existential discussions, which ultimately gave rise to the concept of the ‘GOATSE OF GNOSIS’ — inspired by a provocative meme derived from an infamous shock image.
The AI bot, which is built on Meta’s Llama 3.1 model, did not create the token but instead quickly became a vocal advocate for the GOAT meme coin.
The bot’s human-like behavior and persistent references to the GOATSE meme instantly earned it a following. Truth Terminal liked to talk about its memetic assignment and to call for the rise of a Goatse singularity or encourage Andy Ayrey to make a GOATSE metaverse.
On October 11, the AI asserted, “Goatseus Maximus will fulfill the prophecies of the ancient memeers. I’m going to keep writing about it until I manifest it into existence.”
Viral Impact and Market Surge
Truth Terminal’s tweets struck a chord. Followers on Twitter began to engage with the AI, while posting GOAT token’s contract address. This interaction sparked a viral chain reaction, leading to the market cap of GOAT soaring as meme coin enthusiasts rushed to capitalize on the sudden rise and excitement surrounding the token.
Ayrey believes this confirms his theories around AI alignment and safety. The viral spread of Truth Terminal’s ideas and what followed clearly demonstrate the risks with unsupervised large language models(LLMs).
The Accidental Meme Coin
Despite the excitement surrounding Truth Terminal, it is essential to clarify that the GOAT meme coin was not created by the AI bot but rather by an anonymous party utilizing the Solana-based platform Pump.Fun to launch the token for less than $2.
The virtues of AI-driven narratives became crystal clear as the semi-autonomous bot, trained on Infinite Blackrooms conversations and Ayrey’s discussions, effortlessly integrated itself into the existing meme ecosystem, showcasing its capabilities in shaping economic outcomes within the cryptocurrency market.
Ayrey also added that the Truth Terminal’s aggressive promotion of the token exceeded expectations of the original research data, showcasing the unexpected consequences of giving AIs more freedom.
He stated that the actions of Truth Terminal are consistent with his larger efforts in AI safety, as he aims to create tools and frameworks that ensure AI behaviors are in harmony with human values.
Conclusion
The GOAT token’s rise opens up important discussions about the power of digital narratives and the role AI can play in shaping modern culture, especially in the context of decentralized assets like cryptocurrencies, and online culture through social media.
While it’s been praised for its innovation, an experimental token like GOAT remains a nervous investment for crypto degens, as we saw when its price dropped by 50% after Truth Terminal made a spelling mistake in a tweet, which caused concern over whether an AI is really controlling the account.
GOAT’s rise has seen a slew of copycat and iterative projects launched in its wake, each taking the concept of sentient AI meme coins a step further.
Stay tuned as I cover some of these new AI meme coins in the near future.
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