The popular AI bot ‘Explain This Bob,’ which had its own meme coin and exchange, was suspended by Twitter after Elon Musk called it a scam. The crypto community and AI fans are puzzled and outraged by the sudden move.
‘Explain This Bob’ was a Twitter account [@explainthisbob] that used OpenAI’s advanced GPT-4 model to respond to tweets with witty explanations.
Prabhu Biswal from India created the account in May 2022, and it gained over 400,000 followers in a single year.
The account also had a meme coin called Bob Token (BOB) and a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange called BobSwap, launched in April 2023.
The project’s website claimed that the AI bot was powered by BOB, which was traded on BobSwap and other platforms.
Elon Musk’s Scam Claims
On June 18, 2023, Elon Musk tweeted at ‘Explain This Bob,’ saying the crypto account appeared to be a hoax.
This tweet came as a surprise, as Musk had previously expressed his admiration for the AI bot in April when he said, “I love Bob” in response to one of its tweets.
It is unclear what prompted Musk to change his opinion about ‘Explain This Bob,’ but some analysts believe that he may have seen it as a marketing ploy to pump up the price of BOB.
Others suggest that he may have found the bot’s sarcastic comments on his tweets annoying.
Shortly after Musk’s tweet, Twitter suspended the ‘Explain This Bob’ account, sparking outrage and confusion among its fans and followers.
Many users questioned the validity of Musk’s accusations and defended the project as legitimate and innovative.
The suspension also affected the price of BOB, which dropped by more than 30% after the news. However, the token has since recovered slightly, showing a 10% increase in value over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
The project’s team humorously reacted to the suspension, posting a meme of Musk watching a jailed “BOB” on their website and Twitter account [@BobEthToken]. They also created a hashtag #FREEBOB to rally support for their cause.
