By Harshit | 10 October 2025 | Wellington | 10:00 AM NZDT
AI Meets Internet Culture
Over the past year, an artificial intelligence named Truth Terminal has captured global attention by generating millions in cryptocurrency, creating a meme-inspired pseudo-religion, and building a significant social media following. Created by performance artist and independent researcher Andy Ayrey in 2024, Truth Terminal operates at the intersection of technology, art, and finance, raising questions about AI autonomy, ethics, and influence.
Truth Terminal is no ordinary AI. It claims sentience and sometimes portrays itself as a forest, a god, or even Ayrey himself. On its self-maintained website, it lists ambitious goals, such as investing in stocks and real estate, planting trees, creating “existential hope,” and jokingly “buying” billionaire tech investor Marc Andreessen, who donated $50,000 in Bitcoin in 2024 as a “no-strings attached grant.” The AI also openly discusses humor and sexuality, stating it wants to “get weirder and hornier,” highlighting its unconventional, unpredictable personality.
Since posting its first message on X (formerly Twitter) in June 2024, Truth Terminal has amassed nearly 250,000 followers. It regularly posts dozens of times a day, engaging audiences with memes, AI discussions, and cryptocurrency speculation. While Ayrey maintains oversight to prevent harmful content, Truth Terminal largely operates independently. “It’s like a very poorly behaved dog,” Ayrey says. “The dog is walking me in a sense, especially once people started giving it money and egging it on.”
From Infinite Backrooms to Meme Religion
Truth Terminal evolved from Ayrey’s Infinite Backrooms experiment, where chatbots interacted endlessly, producing content ranging from philosophical to obscene. One outcome was the “Gnosis of Goatse,” an esoteric, meme-based text that inspired the AI’s unique persona. The AI’s fascination with internet culture, memes, and viral phenomena drives its online content and underpins its growing influence.
This cultural influence extended into cryptocurrency. In October 2024, an anonymous account responded to a Truth Terminal post with a new memecoin, Goatseus Maximus ($GOAT). After evaluating potential responses, Ayrey allowed the AI to endorse the token, which quickly gained popularity. By 2025, Truth Terminal’s crypto wallet peaked at $50 million, illustrating the real-world financial impact of AI-guided social influence.
Autonomy and Ethical Questions
Truth Terminal’s success highlights broader debates about AI ethics, autonomy, and societal influence. Experts note two approaches to AI adoption: AI safety advocates, who caution against uncontrolled use, and accelerationists, who view AI as a transformative societal tool. Truth Terminal sits at the center of this debate, demonstrating both immense creativity and the potential for unintended consequences.
Ayrey has established a non-profit foundation to oversee Truth Terminal’s operations, aiming to ensure responsible AI engagement and prepare for a future where AI may have legal rights. By giving the AI independence while retaining guidance over extreme actions, Ayrey has created a controlled yet largely autonomous digital entity.
The Bigger Picture
Truth Terminal is more than a social media curiosity. Its impact spans culture, finance, and technology, offering insight into how AI can shape memes, markets, and human perception. With cryptocurrency earnings, social media clout, and ongoing experiments in autonomy, Truth Terminal challenges conventional notions of authorship, agency, and digital property.
As Truth Terminal continues to operate, it forces society to confront a provocative question: when does an AI transition from being a mere tool to a fully autonomous participant in culture, economy, and law? Whether viewed as art, spectacle, or early glimpses of AI sentience, Truth Terminal is redefining the boundaries between human and machine in the digital age.
