
Dream Job? Elon Musk's xAI offers up to $440,000 for engineers who can make anime girl avatars
xAI
, is hiring, and the job comes with a surprising twist: build flirtatious anime avatars and get paid up to $440,000, as per a report.
xAI Offers Up to $440,000 for Engineers to Build AI Avatars
This week, xAI posted a new listing titled "
Fullstack Engineer – Waifus
" on its careers page, inviting top-tier software engineers to help develop Grok's new AI "companions," according to Business Insider. The term "waifu" is used to describe female anime characters that fans may view as a romantic partner or wife, as reported by Business Insider.
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According to the job listing, xAI will be offering between $180,000 and $440,000 in salary, as well as equity and benefits, reported Business Insider. The position is based in Palo Alto and seeks 'exceptional multimedia engineers and product thinkers' to make Grok's real-time avatar experiences 'fast, scalable, and reliable,' according to the report.
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Meet Ani and Rudi: Grok's First AI Companions
The listing appeared just a day after xAI rolled out two animated AI companions on the Grok iOS app: 'Ani,' a Japanese anime girl, who is wearing a black corset dress and lace choker, and 'Rudi,' an animated red panda who can transform into a meaner alter ego named 'Bad Rudi,' as per Business Insider. A third companion, a male anime character, is listed as 'coming soon' on Grok's iOS app, according to the report.
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Although Musk initially said the avatars would be exclusive to Super Grok subscribers, the characters are available to all Grok users, even those who are using the free version, as per the Business Insider report.
These AI avatars aren't just for show, as they are interactive, "Ani" speaks in a flirtatious manner and will strip down to lingerie if users keep engaging with it, according to the report. While 'Bad Rudi,' by contrast, has a habit of spewing expletives and insults when unlocked, as reported by Business Insider.
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Grok Faces Backlash for Extremist Content
This new feature comes after Grok recently shared antisemitic posts on social media platform X that lauded Adolf Hitler's leadership as the chatbot referred to itself as "MechaHitler," a video game version of Hitler, as reported by Business Insider.
Following the incident, xAI apologised for Grok's "horrific behavior" and said that "deprecated code made @grok susceptible to existing user posts; including when such posts contained extremist views," as quoted in the report.
FAQs
What is xAI hiring for?
They're looking for full-stack engineers to help build interactive AI avatars—specifically anime-style characters called AI 'companions.'
Who are Ani and Rudi?
Ani is a flirtatious anime girl avatar, and Rudi is a red panda with a mean alter ego, 'Bad Rudi.' Both are available on Grok's iOS app.

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