The Grok AI app, which made headlines last week for its antisemitic posts, has now added AI companions that users can interact with in real time.
At launch, Grok AI’s Companions will be available to SuperGrok subscribers ($30 per month), who need to enable the feature from the app's settings. This is just a “soft launch,” and enabling the feature will get much easier in a few days, said xAI owner Elon Musk on Monday.
I don’t have a SuperGrok subscription, yet I was able to test the AI avatars on my iOS device. To interact with a Grok Companion, tap the menu on the top left and choose either Ani or Rudi.
(Credit: Grok AI/PCMag)Ani is an anime-inspired gothic avatar who speaks in a flirty tone, while Rudi is a cartoony teddy bear who is eager to tell stories. When I asked both Companions basic questions like who they are and what they do, the responses were surprisingly naughty.
According to TestingCatalog, after reaching a higher relationship level with Ani, users can also unlock NSFW options for the AI avatar. Some of those NSFW conversations are already available on X.
Apart from Ani and Rudi, I also found another AI avatar marked as “coming soon.” Images shared by some X users suggest the upcoming digital avatar would be called Chad.
These AI avatars arrive just days after Musk said Grok AI “lacks common sense,” possibly in response to a series of inappropriate responses generated by the chatbot. Some of them even praised Adolf Hitler. xAI later deleted those posts as well as a line of code that encouraged Grok to make politically incorrect statements.