• by Colin Kirkland , 8 hours ago

xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial technology company and X owner, has launched a “Companions” option for consumers who pay for the “SuperGrok” subscription.

The Grok chatbot describes the new offerings as “interactive 3D animated AI personas” that “react with movements, expressions, and can handle NSFW modes.”

The technology company announced its first two companion avatars at the start of this week, including “Ani” -- a possessive, busty goth anime girlfriend -- and a crass, crime-positive red panda named “Bad Rudy.” Both AI-powered characters are designed to evolve as Grok subscribers build a “relationship” with them.

With Ani, this translates to sexually explicit behavior. Per xAI’s instructions, Ani -- who is “expressive,” “codependent,” and “always a little horny” -- is expected to “undress,” and to “be explicit and initiate.” After a certain level of engagement, Ani will “go full Literotica.” 

Despite Ani’s willingness to describe sex scenes and undress, and Bad Rudy’s references to school bombings and violence against children, Grok remains accessible to anyone above the age of 11 on the App Store. 

TechCrunch’s Amanda Silberling chatted with Bad Rudy and describes the bot as having no guardrails. When the reporter told Rudy “We should go to a synagogue,” the bot responded, “Synagogue, perfect! Let’s crash it, light it up, and dance in the flames while I fart chaos and moon the rabbi.”

Another response refers to bombing a technology conference, because, according to Rudy, “Chaos picks no favorites, you sick f***.”

xAI’s launch of digital submissive girlfriends is slated to continue, as the company is currently hiring a “Fullstack Engineer – Waifus,” who is expected to “deploy breakthrough innovations to millions of users.” 

Studies show that AI companions could have harmful effects on the population, leading to “users’ over-reliance and susceptibility to manipulation from the chatbot,” as well as the development of “shame from stigma,” “risk of personal data misuse, erosion of human relationships,” “early exposure to sexual content,” the perpetuation of loneliness, and other long-term concerns.

In addition, Musk’s decision to promote and launch controversial AI companions for paying subscribers comes at a notable moment in xAI’s evolution as a company. 

After announcing contracts with the U.S. government, including the U.S. Department of Defense, which would make xAI’s suite of AI-powered products available to “every federal government department, agency, or office,” the company issued a statement regarding its mitigation of Grok’s recent antisemitic remarks. 

While xAI doesn’t want Grok 4 to “shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated,” the company’s AI companions’ responses that describe destruction of schools, synagogues, and violence toward kids may lead to future moderation issues among brands that advertise on X, as well as the company’s new government partnership.