Elon Musk’s Attack on Memecoin BOB Token AI Chatbot Called Out for Market Manipulation
Elon Musk suspended @explanthisbob, a Twitter bot account for allegedly scamming users | Credit: Shutterstock
- Twitter CEO Elon Musk suspends @explainthisbob
- The comedy Twitter account is powered by its own crypto token $bob
- Musk previously showed support for @explainthisbob
- $BOB value plunged after Twitter suspension
Twitter CEO Elon Musk suspended @explainthisbob, a Twitter account linked to an ERC-20 meme coin. As a result, BOB coin value drops by 30%. This happened just a few months after Musk had tweeted “I love Bob”.
Until June 18th, @explainthisbob was a Twitter account that people would tag onto tweet threads to provide a simplistic, ChatGPT-generated response.
The gained significant popularity for its witty responses to any matter it was prompted to respond to. The account’s bio explained that it was powered by a crypto token, $BOB which based its value upon interactions on social media.
Musk himself said “I love Bob” in a thread that started with the news of Microsoft dropping Twitter from its advertising channel list after the tech giant refused to pay Twitter’s API fees.
Musk’s Bot Hunt
A cornerstone of Elon Musk’s mission as owner/head of Twitter is to remove as many bots off the platform as possible. Before Musk took over Twitter, company executives claimed that bots only comprised 5% of the total user base. However, after Musk took the helm, his research team concluded that bots made up at least 11% of users on the platform.
Musk made a point of how bots are weaponized for political and economic gains, swaying the public’s opinion in favor of the highest bidder’s favor.
In the latest episode of the bot hunt, Elon Musk suspended @explainthisbob. The account relied on a generative AI tool to respond to tweets when prompted.
At first, the account would even respond to Twitter CEO’s tweets without being prompted, eventually gaining Musk’s attention. As $BOB coin relied on social interaction, getting the attention of the most popular person on the platform initially skyrocketed the coin’s value by 43% .
Unfortunately, Musk had a change of heart, announcing that @explainthisbob “sure looks like a scam crypto account. If so, it will be suspended,” minutes before the account was indeed suspended. As a result, $BOB plunged in value by over 30% almost immediately.
Twitter Reacts
Musk has been under a watchful eye ever since he took over Twitter. Many of his decisions regarding the platform’s policy and paid services have been under scrutiny ever since.
His latest move, suspending @explainthisbob, has surprisingly gained significant attention, although his anti-bot campaign resulted in the suspension of numerous similar accounts.
@explainthisbob was not entirely a bot account; it was run by a human who used AI tools to provide humor and entertainment to followers. Simultaneously, the account promoted its own crypto token $BOB to raise its value.
Fans of the humorous account responded to Elon’s action by showing one of two reactions:
- Total support of taking down a “bot” account that promotes a crypto token.
- Asking Twitter owner to bring back the entertainment account, citing that it did nothing wrong, and that the coin they promote is “safe”.
