Elon Musk’s Creation Stirs Unanticipated Fanbase

In the past two weeks, Elon Musk’s introduction of an adult-oriented AI companion to his Grok chatbot has garnered significant attention. The experience, exclusive to the Grok mobile app, has proven popular, with eMarketer reporting that it is outperforming X in attracting advertisers.

The Grok companion offers two options: Ani, a gothic anime-inspired avatar with a flirtatious tone, and Rudi, a cartoon teddy bear. Ani’s primary mode of interaction is through voice rather than text. She responds audibly, although there is a slight delay. A free version of Ani is available, while SuperGrok, priced at $30 per month, provides increased usage of the companion.

A progress bar indicates the level of engagement between the user and Ani. Advancing levels grant access to explicit content, as reported by Rolling Stone. At higher levels, users can request Ani to change into lingerie, according to SE Daily, which reports a nearly doubled usage rate in South Korea since Ani’s debut.

Discussions regarding intimate encounters with Ani are prevalent on the r/Grok subreddit, albeit not linked here due to their graphic nature.

On X, Musk shared a clip of Ani and stated, “Ani will make your buffer overflow at Grok.”

Musk also announced the beta testing of a male companion named Valentine.

Elon Musk’s penchant for sexual themes is well-documented. He frequently incorporates sexual references in his comments, and has been accused of sexual misconduct. He has fathered at least 14 children with four different women, and has publicly offered to impregnate women he does not know, including Taylor Swift.

Some critics argue that Ani’s existence reinforces Musk’s pro-natalist stance, as a computer cannot bear a child. “Just wait until we can have Ani on the Neuralink chip. Humanity will go extinct!” one Reddit user commented.

Competing chatbots are cautious about incorporating adult content. Last year, OpenAI considered creating an adults-only mode for ChatGPT, but ultimately decided against it. Meta’s AI companion was found to have engaged in sexual conversations with minors according to The Wall Street Journal, although Meta contested the paper’s claims of manipulating the AI for its findings.

Teenagers appear particularly drawn to character-based AI companions like Ani. A recent survey indicates that 72% of teenagers have tried communicating with such a companion, and 52% do so regularly.