Elon Musk’s AI company has officially launched Grok Imagine, xAI’s image and video generator, available to all SuperGrok and Premium+ X subscribers on its iOS app. True to Musk’s vision of Grok as an unfiltered, boundary-pushing AI, the generator permits users to create NSFW content.
Grok Imagine converts text or image prompts into 15-second videos with native audio, featuring a “spicy mode” that enables the generation of sexually explicit content, including partial female nudity. However, there are limits to how explicit the content can be. Some prompts result in blurred, moderated images, though semi-nude imagery remains accessible.
The inclusion of NSFW content aligns with xAI’s recent release of a hyper-sexualized anime AI companion. While Grok’s unrestrained nature has been entertaining, it has also faced criticism for producing hateful and antisemitic content, raising concerns about potential unintended consequences with Grok Imagine.
CNBC initially reported the existence of “spicy mode” after an xAI employee mentioned its ability to generate nudity in a now-deleted post. TechCrunch reached out to xAI for further details but has yet to receive a response.
Grok Imagine also allows the creation of celebrity-related content, though with certain restrictions. Attempts to generate an image of Donald Trump pregnant, for example, resulted in images of him holding a baby or standing near a pregnant woman.
Despite its ambitions to compete with industry leaders like Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Runway, Grok Imagine’s human depictions still exhibit an uncanny valley effect, with waxy, cartoonish skin textures.
The generator remains impressive, producing images in seconds from text prompts and continuously auto-generating new images as users scroll. These images can then be animated into stylized videos, all through a seamless and intuitive interface.
Musk has stated that the model will improve daily, signaling ongoing refinements. While still in its early stages, Grok Imagine showcases both its potential and the challenges it faces in balancing creativity with responsible content moderation.