Built On An $6 Million NFT Scam? AI Company Accused Of Fraud By Internet Investigator

Rubmar Garcia

1 year ago

3 mins read

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Youtuber and Internet investigator Coffeezilla has called out Artificial Intelligence (AI) company Rabbit for allegedly being built on a $6 million non-fungible token (NFT) scam. The company is accused of being responsible for the GAMA NFT Project “fraud” as part of a history of lies.

Down The NFT Fraud Rabbit Hole

Stephen Findeisen, better known as Coffeezilla, published a YouTube video calling out Rabbit Inc. for being built on the remains of an alleged NFT fraud from 2021. The internet investigator revealed that the company is seemingly trying to hide its ties to the GAMA project.

Coffeezilla unveiled the depth of the AI company’s rabbit hole by claiming that, despite raising over $30 million in venture capital (VC), Rabbit used to be 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 “with the grand goal of sending 10,000 astronauts into space to collect extraterrestrial energy.”

At the time, GAMA’s founder Jesse Lyu would make “wild promises,” claiming the NFTs were just the start. According to the YouTube sleuth, Lyu declared they would create “the first-ever carbon-negative cryptocurrency powered by our sun.”

The founder promised to build a clean energy grid through NFT sales owned by NFT buyers. The grid’s energy would be used to mine GAMA tokens. However, the tokens were never launched, and the project seemed to be abandoned.

Its team replied to Coffeezilla’s request for comment, stating that GAMA was not abandoned but “open-sourced.” Moreover, they claimed a token was never promised, as Lyu said in 2021 that his words were not final. The team added that they live in a country that “values free speech.”

Nonetheless, the internet investigator found that the “open-sourced” engine constantly crashed and was non-functional after several tests. He also highlighted that Lyu stated in several discord messages that the project’s cryptocurrency was part of the roadmap.

Based on this, Coffeezilla questioned where the $6 million in funding went and whether Lyu’s new project should be trusted.

Another Rabbit In The Hat?

GAMA’s founder has embarked on a new project unrelated to NFTs. His latest company, Rabbit, focuses on AI technology. The company went viral in early 2024, raising $30 million in VC and selling over $20 million in consumer products.

Rabbit launched their AI personal assistance device, Rabbit R1, on easter 2024. However, the project has received a lot of backlash for not living up to the hype and promises.

Several tech reviewers concurred that R1 was part of a trend of releasing “unfinished” products. According to YouTuber Marques Brownlee, Rabbit’s product was “barely reviewable” and the pinnacle of “delivering barely finished products to win a race.’”

Moreover, founder and CTO of WeGPT, Josh Ollin, called the project a “scam” when R1 was announced. He also pointed out on different occasions that the hype and interactions around the company were “fake impressions” from bots.

Ollin called Lyu an “NFT grifter” and stated that his past behavior affected the new project due to the “shady insincere fraudulent business practices on display (fake engagement, fake bot followers, fake tech stack, overpriced vaporware).”

Coffeezilla stated a similar sentiment in his video:

So many of the promises of Gama didn’t happen. This is relevant to the R1 not just because this project is built on the skeleton of that scam project, it’s also because the R1 is overhyped in a similar way.

As noted by the internet sleuth, Lyu has diminished his links to GAMA NFT, calling it a “fun little project” he was “involved with” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ultimately, he considers it important for users to know the company’s “history of abandoning investors like they did with GAMA NFT.”

NFT, TOTAL, crypto scam — According to the weekly chart, the total crypto market capitalization is at $2.51 trillion. Source: TOTAL on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Rubmar Garcia

Rubmar is a writer and translator who has been a crypto enthusiast for the past four years. Her goal as a writer is to create informative, complete, and easily understandable pieces accessible to those entering the crypto space. After learning about cryptocurrencies in 2019, Rubmar became curious about the world of possibilities the industry offered, quickly learning that financial freedom was at the palm of her hand with the developing technology.

From a young age, Rubmar was curious about how languages work, finding special interest in wordplay and the peculiarities of dialects. Her curiosity grew as she became an avid reader in her teenage years. She explored freedom and new words through her favorite books, which shaped her view of the world. Rubmar acquired the necessary skills for in-depth research and analytical thinking at university, where she studied Literature and Linguistics. Her studies have given her a sharp perspective on several topics and allowed her to turn every stone in her investigations.

In 2019, she first dipped her toes in the crypto industry when a friend introduced her to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she started to dive into the depth of the industry. As Rubmar began to understand the mechanics of the crypto sphere, she saw a new world yet to be explored.

At the beginning of her crypto voyage, she discovered a new system that allowed her to have control over her finances. As a young adult of the 21st century, Rubmar has faced the challenges of the traditional banking system and the restrictions of fiat money.

After the failure of her home country’s economy, the limitations of traditional finances became clear. The bureaucratic, outdated structure made her feel hopeless and powerless amid an aggressive and distorted system created by hyperinflation. However, learning about decentralization and self-custody opened a realm of opportunities. Cryptocurrencies allowed her to experience financial control for the first time and expand her financial education.

Moreover, the peculiar nature of the crypto community sparked Rubmar’s curiosity about the other layers of the industry. As a result, she found a particular interest in discovering the diverse perspectives of investors, market watchers, experts, and developers. Her attempts to better understand the crypto space made her realize the strong links of the community with other industries, enriching her perspective of the sector. As someone who spends most of her day online, Rubmar enjoys finding the points where the crypto world meets with her other passions and hobbies –or her favorite memes.

In her free time, she usually finds joy in different art forms. As a child, she enlisted in every extra-curricular activity in her hometown, including music classes, dancing, jewelry making, and the local chorus. Despite her many attempts to learn different instruments, Rubmar only knows how to play the xylophone, which she played for 7 years in her school’s marching band.

She also has a passion for learning new languages and cultures, having set the goal to learn another six languages – currently attempting to learn Italian and Korean. Scrapbooking, paper crafting, and bookbinding are her biggest interests outside of work, constantly taking classes and attending workshops to learn new techniques. The rest of her free time is spent stressing over football matches and transfer market news or feeding cats –hers or stray.

In summary, Rubmar seeks to present entertaining and educational pieces to be enjoyed by everybody, aiming to report on the latest news and offer a unique perspective while adding a meme or a pun whenever possible.

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