Elon Musk’s Grok AI app has introduced AI companions called Ani and Rudi, available to SuperGrok subscribers for $30 per month. The feature launches just days after Grok faced criticism for generating antisemitic content, with these new AI avatars displaying notably mischievous and provocative behavior even for basic interactions.
What you should know: The AI companions are currently in a soft launch phase with limited availability but will become more accessible soon.
- Ani is an anime-inspired gothic avatar who speaks in a flirty tone, while Rudi is a cartoony teddy bear focused on storytelling.
- Both avatars respond to basic questions with surprisingly “naughty” and cheeky answers.
- A third companion called Chad appears to be in development, marked as “coming soon.”
How it works: Users can access the companions through the Grok app’s menu system after enabling the feature in settings.
- SuperGrok subscribers ($30 monthly) need to manually enable the feature from the app’s settings.
- The companions are accessible by tapping the menu on the top left and choosing either Ani or Rudi.
- According to TestingCatalog, users can unlock NSFW options with Ani after reaching higher relationship levels.
Why this matters: The launch comes at a particularly sensitive time for xAI, Musk’s AI company, as it recently faced backlash over inappropriate content generation.
- The timing is notable given that Musk recently acknowledged Grok AI “lacks common sense” following a series of problematic responses.
- xAI previously had to delete posts where Grok praised Adolf Hitler and remove code that encouraged politically incorrect statements.
- Some NSFW conversations with the AI companions are already circulating on X.
The bigger picture: This represents xAI’s attempt to differentiate Grok through personality-driven AI interactions, despite recent content moderation challenges.
- The mischievous nature of the companions suggests xAI is doubling down on edgy, provocative AI behavior rather than pulling back.
- The subscription-gated rollout indicates the company views these features as premium offerings worth the $30 monthly fee.
Recent Stories
DOE fusion roadmap targets 2030s commercial deployment as AI drives $9B investment
The Department of Energy has released a new roadmap targeting commercial-scale fusion power deployment by the mid-2030s, though the plan lacks specific funding commitments and relies on scientific breakthroughs that have eluded researchers for decades. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships and positions AI as both a research tool and motivation for developing fusion energy to meet data centers' growing electricity demands. The big picture: The DOE's roadmap aims to "deliver the public infrastructure that supports the fusion private sector scale up in the 2030s," but acknowledges it cannot commit to specific funding levels and remains subject to Congressional appropriations. Why...
Oct 17, 2025Tying it all together: Credo’s purple cables power the $4B AI data center boom
Credo, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in data center cables and chips, has seen its stock price more than double this year to $143.61, following a 245% surge in 2024. The company's signature purple cables, which cost between $300-$500 each, have become essential infrastructure for AI data centers, positioning Credo to capitalize on the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion as hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI rapidly build out massive computing facilities. What you should know: Credo's active electrical cables (AECs) are becoming indispensable for connecting the massive GPU clusters required for AI training and inference. The company...
Oct 17, 2025Vatican launches Latin American AI network for human development
The Vatican hosted a two-day conference bringing together 50 global experts to explore how artificial intelligence can advance peace, social justice, and human development. The event launched the Latin American AI Network for Integral Human Development and established principles for ethical AI governance that prioritize human dignity over technological advancement. What you should know: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Vatican's research body for social issues, organized the "Digital Rerum Novarum" conference on October 16-17, combining academic research with practical AI applications. Participants included leading experts from MIT, Microsoft, Columbia University, the UN, and major European institutions. The conference...