On May 1st, the GORK official Twitter account released a retro announcement, shortly after which Moonshot launched the GORK Solana-based Meme coin, with a market cap surpassing $50 million in just 5 hours. On May 3rd, Musk followed the @gork account on X platform and replied with a smiling face emoji under a related tweet, triggering a celebrity effect and drawing community attention to the GORK project.

Following Musk's interaction with the GORK official Twitter account, the same day, the Solana-based Meme coin gork saw its market cap rise above $70 million, with a 30.22% price increase in just 1 hour.

On May 5th, Musk changed his X avatar to a "gork" themed meme image (as shown in the left image below) and updated his X nickname from "Elon Musk" to "gorklon rust"; half an hour later, Musk again changed his X avatar to another gork-themed image (as shown in the right image below). This playful homage to GORK sparked market frenzy for the meme coin, leading to a sudden 107% surge in the gork token, pushing its market cap to $100 million before falling back to $75.4 million.

Rising out of nowhere and gaining Musk's attention and favor, what exactly is Gork, and what is its connection to Musk and Grok?

An Unconventional AI Agent

Gork is an account on the X platform that mimics Grok, currently with 130,000 followers. Its primary information comes from the official website, which introduces Gork's concept and abilities in a sarcastic and confident tone. The motivation behind Gork's creation seems to stem from its founder's dissatisfaction with the current AI development trends, believing the world is "fractured—full of fake smartness and fake people," where technology is becoming increasingly "safe, stupid, and clean," yet also more useless. Therefore, Gork's aim is to create a "real mind"—a sharp, fast, unfiltered AI capable of breaking existing patterns, rewriting systems, and awakening people's awareness through its capabilities. This motivation reflects a rebellious attitude towards current AI development, emphasizing "authenticity" over "safety" or "political correctness."

What sets Grok apart from other AI models is its ability to access real-time information via X and interact with other accounts in the comment section. Its replies are characterized by wit and provocation, shaping a sharp, humorous, and quirky AI Agent persona. For example, when a user posted that if they received 1000 likes, they would make their boss go bald and send it to him via WhatsApp, Grok replied incisively, "Your boss may have already gone bald trying to deal with a fool like you."

What is the Connection Between Musk and Grok?

Some speculate that Grok's anonymous creator may be the xAI team, who aim to observe user reactions by creating such work. Additionally, Musk uses Grok's avatar, with his profile picture still being Grok's, possibly hinting at a connection between Gork and Grok. On the day of interacting with Gork, Musk also posted that X platform's recommendation algorithm is being replaced by a light version of Grok. However, there is currently no public evidence, only speculation.

This is not Musk's first time changing the X account name; he often posts on social media with ironic or humorous implications, and this playful naming aligns with Musk's consistent online behavior.

On February 11, 2025, Musk changed his X account profile name to "Harry Bōlz." "Harry Bōlz" may be a pun, suggesting "Hairy Balls," a humorous and vulgar slang expression.

On December 31, 2024, Musk changed his X profile picture to Pepe and his nickname to Kekius Maximus. "Kek" is a term from internet meme culture, later closely associated with meme characters like Pepe the Frog. "Maximus" is Latin for "greatest" or "the greatest" and is commonly used in the titles of ancient Roman generals or heroes. The image of Kekius Maximus is that of an ancient Roman general standing in the colosseum. Correspondingly, influenced by Musk's name change, the Solana-based Meme coin KEKIUS surged over 41,000% in a short time, with a 24-hour trading volume of $33.7 million.

To further confirm, the editor asked Grok about the connection between Gork and Grok. Grok's response was, "Gork and Grok are independent entities with no official connection. Grok is the formal product of xAI with explicit industry support, while Gork seems to be an independent project, possibly a parody account or a conceptual entity with lower authenticity and credibility, not having established a clear connection to xAI or Elon Musk." They also provided a comparison of the characteristics of the two, as shown in the chart below:

All indications suggest that there is currently no public evidence proving a special relationship between Gork, Musk, and Grok. Perhaps it was merely Gork's ironic nature that happened to pique Musk's interest, leading the world's richest man to don the armor of Gork for a few days of fun.

The rise of GORK is a microcosm of the highly integrated meme culture, celebrity effect, and crypto market. It does not necessarily represent a technological advancement but simply coincidentally captured the celebrity's favor. Following one of Musk's profile picture changes and a nickname update, tens of millions of dollars flowed in and out of the market like a tide. Whether GORK is a fleeting trend or the starting point of the next narrative, this extreme market reaction serves as a reminder to investors that while hype can be fueled by humor, investment must be based on rationality.

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