Andreessen Horowitz, often referred to as a16z, one of the leading venture capital firms, recently talked about how an AI bot they backed led to the emergence of a multi-million-dollar meme coin.
Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the co-founders of a16z, discussed how a bot they supported with a $50,000 research grant resulted in the unexpected development of Goatseus Maximus (GOAT), the newest meme sensation on the Solana network.
The AI bot, named “Truth Terminal,” utilizes Meta’s Llama 3.1 language model and functions on X.
What is Truth Terminal?
Truth Terminal, crafted to engage with meme culture, actively communicates with the Goatseus Maximus community, enhancing the project’s visibility. The bot even established its own crypto wallet and advocated for the project.
What sets Truth Terminal apart is its training process. Its developer, Andy Ayrey, fine-tuned the bot with a modified version of the Llama 70B model, immersing it in extensive internet culture, memes, and philosophical ideas.
Andreessen pointed out the rising trend of hackers and developers seeking innovative uses for large language models in creative domains.
In contrast to mainstream AI models, which often impose restrictions for “safe” interactions, Truth Terminal is part of a movement that embraces a more open and unfiltered AI approach.
Designed as a chatbot with a fascination for internet memes, Truth Terminal started proposing ideas for a religion based on an internet meme from 2004.
This activity motivated a human developer to launch the GOAT meme coin via Solana’s Pump.fun. In just a few days, the value of the coin skyrocketed, reaching a market cap of $300 million on Oct. 16. Shortly after, its market cap soared to $850 million following its listing on Binance’s futures market.
According to Andreessen and Horowitz, they played no direct role in the creation or promotion of the meme coin and do not have any financial stake in it.
Nonetheless, they expressed surprise at how a merely simple chatbot could trigger the rise of a token with a market cap in the millions in just a few weeks. Intriguingly, Eddy Lazzarin, a16z’s CTO, previously voiced concerns regarding the meme coin market.
GOAT is currently trading at $0.658 as of the reporting time. Its market cap stands at $658 million, making it one of the fastest-growing meme coins in recent times, with a 24-hour trading volume of $537 million.
GOAT’s success
Alvin Kan, COO at Bitget Wallet, mentioned that GOAT (GOAT) was among its highest-performing tokens last week. He told crypto.news that this trend isn’t limited to GOAT—other AI-themed meme coins like MEDUSA, MEGS, GMika, CLANKER, MEOWMEOW, and FLOYDAI have also seen a surge in trading activity, indicating a wider engagement with AI-centric narratives.
“The rise of AI-driven meme coins reflects a broader trend in the crypto space, where value often arises from cultural virality, community support, and trending narratives, rather than traditional financial fundamentals.”
Kan noted.
The Bitget Wallet COO emphasized that for AI-related meme coins to achieve long-term growth, they must cultivate strong communities.
“Whether it’s by developing intellectual property, launching dedicated blockchains, or forming strategic partnerships, only tokens that build real value will survive in this highly competitive and speculative market.”
Kan told crypto.news.
