Anthropic's X account was hacked, displaying a codename for about 30 minutes. The latest social media exploit is the latest in a trend of high-profile attacks on major companies to hide a new codename.

Anthropic, which split from OpenAI, is the latest high-profile account to be hacked and later used to promote a cryptocurrency token address. Anthropic noticed the exploit early on and quickly restored access to its account.

Anthropic's X account promoted Venti AI agent

The hacked Anthropic X account activated Venti, a bot trained in X communication and style. The bot's main mission is content marketing. Venti was disrespectful, used the latest internet terminology, and was considered consistent with 4Chan's values ​​and content.

The hacker shared both VENTI and a token posing as official with the ticker CLAUDE. One of the coins associated with the hack was immediately minted, leaving the exploiters with around $100,000 after a quick withdrawal.

Anthropic account was hacked and promoted a coin, it was immediately liquidated for a profit of ~$100k. The tweet was deleted in ~30 minutes. pic.twitter.com/qVmRAQkAgA

- S (@qtnx_) December 17, 2024

Crypto AI clients gained popularity in the last months of 2024, first sparked by demo accounts like Truth Terminal and Nugram (GNON) and their offshoots. Soon after, prominent AI clients like AI16Z integrated their content with DeFi features.

As of December 2024, there are hundreds of small AI client accounts, all vying for attention. While Anthropic’s Claude was making headway, the smaller clients were trying to track followers and traffic through their content.

Even after the exposure, VENTI is a relatively minor token after a week of trading. The asset has been on a downward spiral since its launch, currently at $0.00025. In addition to the Anthropic breakout, the token’s creators also triggered a rapid industrial pump, using it to attract buyers who showed interest in the token.

The choice to promote Venti through a hacked account is also seen as an attack on the project itself. Venti aims to achieve organic growth while training on X content data. The promotion coincided with a rug pull, which hurt VENTI more than the promotion helped. Venti was promoted in a second X message, which quoted an account that generally supports AI memes.

AI agents are in a relentless struggle for mindshare. Even the original Truth Terminal is struggling to stay in the top 10 agents on social media. For Venti, a recent 11-minute showcase on Anthropic’s page has yet to translate into any significant following or symbolic success.

The AI ​​agent space as a whole has a market cap approaching $10 billion, though newer, smaller tokens can’t compete with older AI-centric assets. Not all AI agents are the same, and there are levels of specialization. Some are mixed with DeFi, some are content generators, and some are used to analyze the AI ​​market.

Promoting through hacked social media accounts is a growing trend.

Previous hacks have been used to promote regular meme tokens or other types of projects. This time, Anthropic was used to draw attention to a new AI agent and a new token that pretends to officially belong to Claude.

The latest hack comes on the heels of attacks on Company X accounts and influential people. The account of the AI ​​client Truth Terminal was also briefly hijacked, though it has since been recovered.

X-account hacks have been one of the most common attacks this year. Just days ago, the Cardano Foundation lost control of its social media accounts as hackers promoted another Web3 asset. Other notable hacks include the account of Philip Bankss, the artist behind the CHILLGIY image and image.

Even Drake's account was hacked this week to cash out a new meme token. The list also includes McDonald's and even the SEC.

The hacked accounts promoted fake airdrops, released new tokens, or posted malicious links.