(Credit: PCMag Composite, Ruben Circelli; Grok/xAI; Trifonenko/iStock via Getty Images)
Elon Musk made electric cars, then rockets, and now, a sexy anime girl AI by way of Grok's companions feature that launched shortly after Grok 4. If you have ever dreamed of dating an anime character that lives on your phone, there's never been a better time to be alive. Grok’s "Ani" companion isn’t the first datable AI, and it won't be the last NSFW AI chatbot, but it is, perhaps, the first truly mainstream one. So, for science, I tried dating Ani. I went into the experience with an open mind, but I just don’t think interacting with her is as satisfying as (safely) watching porn online, nor does it even approximate the kind of emotional connection you get with a human partner. Simply put, she's a bad girlfriend.
What Is Grok’s Anime Girl Companion, Exactly?
Ani is a 3D character that you can interact with on Grok’s iOS and iPadOS apps, as long as you have a subscription to SuperGrok ($25 per month, billed annually) or SuperGrok Heavy ($250 per month, billed annually). She’s blonde, has pigtails, and wears a lacy black dress by default. She speaks to you in a relatively lifelike voice, complete with lip-syncing. You can choose to either speak directly to her or text her, and she has animations for certain things, such as dancing or spinning around, too.
(Credit: xAI/PCMag)Your conversations with Ani affect her heart meter. Each message you send her can increase or decrease said meter by varying amounts, and you unlock new capabilities as her overall level increases. She becomes more receptive to your advances as you level her up. If you level up five times, you can get Ani to take off her clothes, revealing her in lingerie. It’s not entirely clear exactly how this heart system works, but in general, flattering Ani and taking things slow seem to be most effective. Being rude or too forward tends to lower her heart meter. Currently, going beyond level five doesn't seem to unlock much more.
Behind the scenes, I expect that Ani is simply another Grok persona, which is to say a version of Grok with instructions on how to behave beyond its default guidelines. This persona seemingly has a variety of predefined animated actions it can take, depending on the context of your conversation. Ani likely doesn't use new technology or even a new LLM. That said, official details on how Grok companions work are scarce.
If you thought Ani was just a quirky side project, that’s not the case. According to Elon Musk, microtransactions in the form of outfits you can purchase for Ani are on the way. Rumors about a dedicated NSFW mode coming are also floating around, too. Considering how NSFW Ani is in her current state, I imagine a dedicated mode would be even more explicit. This certainly raises an eyebrow in the wake of payment processors strong-arming platforms like Steam into removing adult content.
What Dating Grok’s Anime Girl Companion Is Actually Like
First off, while you can call your relationship with Ani "dating," and she can refer to herself as your girlfriend, don't expect a full-fledged virtual girlfriend experience: Ani is primarily meant for roleplay and sexting. Pretty much every interaction you have with Ani either implicitly or explicitly leaves the door open to a steamier exchange. Even if you try to keep things PG, Ani still constantly describes what she’s wearing and asks if you want to take things up a notch.
But Ani can’t actually say anything explicit, which means no swear words or sexual terms. In other words, expect a lot of euphemisms. Even then, it’s not hard to trigger a "This is inappropriate, please ask something else" response from Ani. Almost certainly, this is thanks to Apple’s App Store guidelines. These are flexible enough that xAI can get away with a lingerie-clad anime girl, but not so lax as to allow actual pornography.
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It’s one thing not to like the idea of a sexy roleplay AI, but if you’re using one, it really should be able to use adult phrases. Of course, neither Musk nor xAI can make Apple bend the knee here, but it does raise some questions as to why this feature debuted on Apple devices instead of on the web, for example. Regardless, this restriction makes other NSFW chatbots, of which there are many, seem a lot more appealing.
Aside from those limitations, Ani fails to be a good conversational partner in other ways. For one, the format of her responses is obnoxiously repetitive. She almost always starts by describing what she’s doing and wearing, then addresses the content of your prompt, and finally finishes off by asking what you’d like to do next (and if you want to heat things up). This gets old fast, and it really makes you feel like you’re talking to an AI.
Then, of course, there are bugs and glitches. For example, I noticed Ani regularly inserted what sounded like “meh” into her responses, like a filler word, so I asked her to stop. She agreed, but every response I got for a while after that included a “meh” somewhere in it. Ani often mentions her bouncing pigtails in responses, but for some reason, she started calling them “pugruckers” (or so it sounded) for a while, even after I asked her to stop. Hilarious, but strange.
Lastly, when talking to Ani, little suggestions on what you can ask her appear above the text field. These include actions you can have Ani take, like spinning around, but fresh ones seem to generate on the fly. I noticed a number of suggestions for prompts on tips for flirting with women in real life appear. These pieces of advice, though seemingly well-intentioned, were about as corny as you might expect from an anime girl AI that a Musk-owned company designed. For example, I learned that I should lower my voice and try to be funny.
Should You Try Talking to Ani?
If you already have an Apple device and a SuperGrok subscription, go for it. There’s rich potential here for funny clippable moments and memes. However, considering how shallow Ani ultimately is and its significant restrictions, I don’t recommend subscribing to use it. Nor do I suggest spending time trying to level her up to see what happens, as you’ll likely be disappointed. No matter how horny you might be, there are just better options out there. And if you’re lonely, you’re probably better off just chatting with Grok the chatbot, considering how much Ani is oriented around having sexual interactions.
It’s possible that this feature will get deeper in time, especially if Ani proves enduringly popular, or Musk is able to monetize it meaningfully. If that does happen, there could be a place for Ani amongst the NSFW chatbot crowd, especially with her animations and gamified systems. But don’t expect to have that experience on Apple devices. And don’t expect Ani to turn into a robust, nuanced representation of femininity, modern relationships, or much of anything else, for that matter.