Key Takeaways:
- GROK coins are all the rage, bagging millions during the weekend.
- Even a similarly-named dormant coin got some action.
- Elon Musk’s XAI launched Grok as an antidote to the “left-leaning” ChatGPT.
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — GROK tokens, inspired by Elon Musk’s same-named AI, are the new talk of the town, as several hundred different versions flooded the market over the weekend. Notably, the anonymous developers have NOT been linked to the actual Grok AI, but before we get to the newly launched service, let’s take a look at the coin craze.
GROK coins are the new madness
It doesn’t take much to launch a brand-new coin on a blockchain like Ethereum: intention, basic coding skills, and a few bucks. So, once Elon Musk announced the upcoming release of the new AI product Grok (patience, we’ll get there) in Q2, 2023, crypto developers decided to show their appreciation to the ChatGPT rival and make a profit while they’re at it.
Fast forward to Nov 4, when XAI announced the much-anticipated Grok launch, developers doubled down and released many similar coins.
A few hundred tokens later, the early bidders bagged several multiples of their initial investment. Even earlier coins got a piece of the action.
For example, one of the Groks has been around since January 2022, seemingly had nothing to do with the AI project, and has been dormant since May 2022. However, it got swept by the hype, and the transaction count reached a local peak.
The crypto sphere has no shortage of nonsense coins (ever heard of HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu??), designed to make a quick buck for those in the loop. However, such trends are typically short-lived, so caution is advised when dealing with all Groks, big and small.
Meanwhile, it’s high time to address the elephant in the room and talk about the AI itself.
Elon Musk’s Grok is the “witty” and “rebellious” version of ChatGPT
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has been vocal about his negative stance on politicized social media. According to the Tesla and SpaceX chief, the necessity for an unbiased communication medium is one of the reasons behind his X.com (or Twitter, if you will) purchase and the subsequent ‘release’ of Twitter prisoners.
Meanwhile, everyone and their mother use ChatGPT for many tasks these days. However, the tool also raised concerns about it being too politicized.
In January 2023, researchers at the Technical University of Munich and the University of Hamburg posted a preprint of an academic paper concluding that ChatGPT has a “pro-environmental, left-libertarian orientation.”
AI for free speech… and a bit of dark humor
Musk, on the other hand, offered his version of an AI tool, which the developing company (XAI) “modeled after the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams in the ’70s.
Grok is designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak, so please don’t use it if you hate humor! A unique and fundamental advantage of Grok is that it has real-time knowledge of the world via the 𝕏 platform. It will also answer spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.
reads the introduction.
Grok took a jab at the crypto ex-golden-boy Sam Bankman-Fried after the latter’s conviction. Several YouTubers jumped on the opportunity to screenshot the results for your amusement.
The long-term implications of the rebellious Grok are not yet clear. However, crypto enthusiasts have the knack of turning any event into short-term profit.
