Open AI's text-to-video model Sora awed observers, and prompted the launch of a Sora memecoin, which pumped 469,000% within its first 15 hours on Thursday, Feb. 15.

What Happened: Open AI's reveal immediately went viral, racking up 44 million impressions at the time of writing:

Introducing Sora, our text-to-video model.

Sora can create videos of up to 60 seconds featuring highly detailed scenes, complex camera motion, and multiple characters with vibrant emotions. https://t.co/7j2JN27M3W

Prompt: “Beautiful, snowy… pic.twitter.com/ruTEWn87vf

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) February 15, 2024

Open AI posted several other almost photo-realistic videos, prompting awe-inspired reactions on X (formerly Twitter).

The reveal also prompted a customary memecoin launch—a Sora AI token on Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) pumped to a peak market capitalization of over 15 million within 15 hours, according to DexScreener.

The token currently trades around a market cap of $7.5 million, a 261,000% gain.

A separate Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) Sora AI token peaked at almost 5 million.

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Why It Matters: Memecoins have almost become a point of reference for monetizing the attention of a trending topic. 

X owner Elon Musk recently tweeted about the Optimus robot pumped the OPTI memecoin by over 20%.

Other tokens driven by stars or trending events include the Drake-affiliated WYNN coin, a Chinese-letter MEOW coin based on a Vitalik Buterin tweet or the MAGA memecoin supporting (but not supported by) former President Donald Trump.

This memecoin craze has some analysts believe "financial nihilism" has taken over, with speculators willing to bet on anything that drives attention. Others will argue memecoins contribute to the "unhinged casino" aspects of the crypto industry.

EIther way, AI-related coins like TAO have been endorsed, or at least considered promising, by Grayscale and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

They could ride the tailwinds of continuous AI developments, as Sora possibly rings in the next round of generative content. "If you think OpenAI Sora is a creative toy like DALLE, … think again," says Nvidia Senior Research Scientist Jim Fan.

What's Next: Whether AI memecoins can kickstart retail interest in cryptocurrencies remains to be seen — Google Trends data shows retail investors are lukewarm about it, despite Bitcoin trading close to $52,000.

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Image: Illustrated with MidJourney