YouTuber and internet researcher Coffeezilla has slammed artificial intelligence (AI) company Rabbit for allegedly building it on a $6 million non-fungible token (NFT) scam. The company is accused of being responsible for the “fraud” of the GAMA NFT project as part of a story of lies.
Down the NFT rabbit hole
Stephen Findeisen, better known as Coffeezilla, posted a video on YouTube condemning Rabbit Inc. for being built on the remnants of an alleged NFT scam from 2021. An internet investigator revealed that the company is apparently trying to hide its ties to Project GAMA.
With Coffeez exposed the depths of the AI company’s rabbit hole, claiming that despite raising over $30 million in venture capital (VC), Rabbit’s company was called Cyber Manufacture Corporation.
In 2021, the company raised over $6 million for its “next-generation NFT project GAMA.” The project was described as a decentralized organization “whose primary goal is to send 10,000 astronauts into space to collect extraterrestrial energy.”
At the time, GAMA founder Jesse Lyu was making “wild promises,” claiming NFTs were just the beginning. According to the YouTube detective, Lyu stated that they would create “the first-ever carbon-negative cryptocurrency powered by our sun.”
The founder promised to build a immaculate energy network by selling NFTs belonging to NFT buyers. The network’s energy would be used to mine GAMA tokens. However, the tokens were never launched and the project seemed to be abandoned.
Her team responded to Coffeezilla’s request for comment, stating that GAMA was not abandoned, but was “open source.” Moreover, they claimed that the token was never promised because in 2021, Lyu said his words were not final. The band added that they live in a country that “values freedom of speech.”
Nevertheless, an internet researcher discovered that the “open source” engine was constantly crashing and stopped working after several tests. He also highlighted that Lyu had stated in several discord messages that the project’s cryptocurrency was part of the roadmap.
Based on this, Coffeezilla asked what the $6 million in funding was for and whether Lyu’s novel project should be trusted.
Another rabbit in the hat?
The GAMA founder has started a novel project unrelated to NFTs. His newest company, Rabbit, focuses on AI technology. The company went viral in early 2024, raising $30 million in VC funding and selling over $20 million in consumer products.
Rabbit will release its AI-powered personal assistance device, Rabbit R1, in Easter 2024. However, the project faced a lot of criticism for not living up to the hype and promises.
Several technology reviewers agreed that the R1 is part of a trend of releasing “unfinished” products. According to YouTuber Marques Brownlee, a Rabbit product was “barely reviewable” and the pinnacle of “delivering barely finished products to win the race.”
Moreover, WeGPT founder and CTO Josh Ollin called the project a “scam” after the R1 announcement. He also pointed out on various occasions that the buzz and interactions around the company were “false impressions” caused by bots.
Ollin called Lyu an “NFT scammer” and he stated that his past behavior influenced the novel project due to the “shady, disingenuous and deceptive business practices that were demonstrated (fake engagement, fake bot followers, fake tech stack, overpriced vaporware).”
Coffeezilla expressed a similar sentiment in his video:
So many of Gama’s promises have not come true. This matters in the case of the R1 not only because the project is based on the backbone of this scam, but also because the R1 is overrated in a similar way.
As noted by the internet sleuth, Lyu circumscribed his involvement with GAMA NFT, calling it a “fun project” he was “involved in” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ultimately, he believes it’s critical for users to know “the company’s history of abandoning investors, as happened with GAMA NFT.”
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
