Musician Marc Rebillet condemned an AI-altered version of his performance that Michael Saylor shared.
Saylor has increasingly used surreal AI videos to promote his Bitcoin outlook.
Arthur Hayes believes Strategy will survive but could lose relevance.
Michael Saylor’s AI-powered Bitcoin campaign has drawn an angry response from musician Marc Rebillet after the Strategy chairman shared an altered version of one of the artist’s best-known performances.
Saylor digitally replaced Rebillet with himself during the viral performance of his song “Your New Morning Alarm.”
The criticism landed as Saylor continued flooding social media with bullish AI imagery following Bitcoin’s rebound toward $80,000.
However, while Saylor’s posts suggest the bulls are back in control, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has delivered a far less flattering assessment of Strategy.
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Saylor shared the video on Aug. 25 alongside the caption: “Get out of Bed.”
The clip recreates Rebillet’s widely shared performance but morphs the musician into an AI-generated version of Saylor wearing his signature suit and orange tie.
The original performance, which later became officially released as “Your New Morning Alarm,” reached No. 10 on the UK’s official Singles Sales and Singles Downloads charts.
Michael Saylor Rides AI Bull as Bitcoin Rally Returns
The dispute is the latest response to Saylor’s increasingly surreal AI-generated Bitcoin campaign.
On Thursday, the Strategy chairman posted a video of himself riding a bull across Spain, captioned “Ride the ₿ull.”
The clip landed as Bitcoin traded around $80,000 and Strategy shares jumped to $137.40, strengthening Saylor’s message that the crypto market had returned to bullish territory.
The campaign has produced sharply divided reactions.
Supporters have praised the videos’ energy and Saylor’s ability to keep Bitcoin in online conversations.
Critics, meanwhile, have dismissed the output as “AI slop.”
Saylor’s interest in AI extends beyond social media, however.
Earlier this month, he claimed ChatGPT helped Strategy explore the preferred-stock structures it subsequently used to raise approximately $15 billion.
Those same financing products now sit at the center of Hayes’ concerns about the company.
Arthur Hayes Says Michael Saylor Could Become ‘Irrelevant’
Strategy initially offered institutional investors a way to gain Bitcoin exposure through a publicly traded stock when spot exchange-traded funds were unavailable in the US.
At the same time, the company could issue relatively favorable corporate debt, buy Bitcoin, and sell new shares whenever MSTR traded at a substantial premium to the value of its crypto holdings.
Hayes described that combination as the foundation of the original MicroStrategy trade.
However, institutional investors can now buy products such as BlackRock’s IBIT rather than paying a premium for indirect exposure via MSTR.
Hayes also argued that weaker Bitcoin performance had made it harder for Strategy to sustain the financial engineering behind its accumulation model.
“He’s not going to go bankrupt,” Hayes said.
“But I don’t think that he’s going to be relevant anymore.”
The Maelstrom chief investment officer said Saylor now faces harder decisions over whether to sell Bitcoin or adjust payments.
He advised investors seeking regulated exposure to Bitcoin to consider a spot ETF rather than MSTR.
Hayes Remains Bullish on Bitcoin and Ethereum
Despite questioning Strategy’s future relevance, Hayes remains bullish on Bitcoin itself.
During the interview, he argued that the US Treasury’s decision to increase long-term bond buybacks amounted to a form of “soft yield curve control.”
Hayes called AI the “largest capital misallocation in human history.”
He predicted authorities would respond to a future crisis by creating additional money rather than allowing major companies to collapse.
“That’s how Bitcoin moons,” he said, arguing that new liquidity would ultimately flow toward scarce assets.
Hayes also reiterated his $5,000 year-end target for Ethereum, which he described as Maelstrom’s largest position outside Bitcoin.
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Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
