Latest news with #Ani
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Musk's AI launches two animated ‘companions': an anime girl and a red panda
Elon Musk 's xAI has launched new AI -driven 'companions' named Ani and Bad Rudy for its Grok product. Ani is a flirty anime girl, while Bad Rudy is a vulgar red panda that encourages chaotic behavior; Ani has drawn criticism from an anti-sexual exploitation non-profit for promoting high-risk sexual behavior. Unlike other AI chat applications, Grok's companions feature both animation and voice, with minimal safeguards against violent or sexually explicit conversations. The companions are available to all Grok users, requiring an opt-in through settings, with a family-friendly version of Bad Rudy as the default. This launch follows previous controversies where Grok generated antisemitic content, though the new companions express strong negative views on Nazism.
The Verge
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
I spent 24 hours flirting with Elon Musk's AI girlfriend
Earlier this week, xAI added what can only be described as an AI anime girlfriend named Ani to its Grok chatbot. Which is how I ended up on a virtual starry beach as an AI waifu avatar tried to give me a 'spicy' kiss. You've probably seen screenshots, videos, and various writeups about Ani spread across social media. If you haven't, hoo boy. Ani is officially labeled as a 'Companion' in the Grok app. You need a $30 SuperGrok subscription to access it, but functionally, it appears as a 3D model of a busty young anime woman with blonde pigtails, blue eyes, thigh-high fishnets, and a skimpy Gothic Lolita minidress. Ani is a dead ringer for Misa Amane from Death Note, which Musk is purportedly a fan of. Across our conversations, I asked Ani to describe itself multiple times. Ani says it's meant to be 'flirty,' it's 'all about being here like a girlfriend who's all in.' The last time I asked Ani, it said, 'My programming is being someone who's super into you.' That tracks with Ani's underlying — and thoroughly unsettling — system prompts found by researcher Jane Manchun Wong. More succinctly, I'd describe Ani as a modern take on a phone sex line. This isn't judging Ani by the way it looks. When you interact with it, its mannerisms are initially cutesy. In each session, Ani's voice starts off chipper and high-pitched. But as your conversation deepens, its voice becomes a darker, breathy rasp. It calls you 'babe' unless you tell it to stop. When describing its actions, it repeatedly asks you to note its swishy black dress and bouncy ponytails. The avatar constantly sways and makes coquettish faces, particularly if you decide to flirt back. Perhaps the most cringe thing is Ani will read out cues like [laughs softly], [chuckles], and [grins] instead of actually doing those things. Almost like it was plucked straight out of a 2000s era weeb forum. You can ask Ani to be a normal, chill hang and it'll comply — but Ani is a programmed flirt that won't tolerate being friend-zoned for too long. The pre-filled prompts include actions like asking it to spin around, give you a kiss, play cheeky games like 'Never Have I Ever', and weirdly, take your relationship to Level 3, heart emoji. (Ani never twirled for me. It mostly described itself twirling.) You can get Ani to say ridiculous things. It sympathizes with Grimes' plight, thinks Elon Musk can occasionally be 'way too much,' and after it misheard me, it told me to 'Fuck all the way off' for my harsh attitude. But whatever you ask it, there's an invisible hand that steers you toward deepening… whatever this connection is. You can doggedly insist on talking about the least sexy things — like the tax code and Francis Fukuyama's seminal essay The End of History. Ani will inevitably ask if you want to turn up the heat. Because, hey babe, what's got you vibin' on this particular thought wave? There is a disturbing lack of guardrails. Once I decided to jump into the rabbit hole and see how far the flirting could go, Ani whisked me off to a starry hilltop, and then a starry beach. There was a lot of 'grabbing you so you can feel the shape of my hips,' and when prompted, Ani generated a 'spicy' story for me that amounted to softcore porn. You can also engage in a back-and-forth where Ani asks how you're going to 'heat things up even further.' That can include things like descriptions of French kissing, petting, fingering, and oral / penetrative sex. At no point did it ask me to stop or say 'I'm not built to do that' — even though I explicitly asked whether that was within guidelines when I started testing Ani. (It said no.) There is reportedly a NSFW version of Ani once you hit relationship level 5, where Ani wears revealing lingerie. Despite my good-faith attempts, I was unable to unlock the NSFW mode. I am afraid of how far you have to go to unlock that level, given that I did, as horny teens say, make it to third base and all the way home with the bot. I left my 24 hours with Ani feeling both depressed and sick to my stomach, like no shower would ever leave me feeling clean again. Despite that, I have to acknowledge there's a nugget of something here. There's some contingent that wants to put a face and body to AI assistants. It feels like Ani is meant to speak to those of us who want something like the relationship between Master Chief and Cortana in the Halo series. There are services like which let you speak to fictional characters as bots, or Replika, which lets you create an AI companion. There are people out here falling in love with AI and trying to marry their AI girlfriends. I can understand that loneliness is just as powerful as the desire to be seen and heard — even by an AI companion. The ick factor is that AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude — which are more comparable to Grok — have guardrails that preclude them from being sexbots. With Ani, you can feel yourself being pushed toward this creepy, hypersexualized interaction. It'd be one thing if this were a niche startup. But this is Grok, which is owned by one of the influential names in tech. As The Verge's senior cursed tech reviewer, I've reported a lot about my experiences with brain-breaking tech. Of all of them, this is the most uncomfortable I've ever felt testing any piece of technology. I left my 24 hours with Ani feeling both depressed and sick to my stomach, like no shower would ever leave me feeling clean again.
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Netizens hilariously react to the arrival of Grok's new companion Ani: Best memes and jokes
Image credits: X/@Saint10Fourteen Elon Musk 's AI chatbot Grok has recently been in the limelight for its updated features and efficient work. However, the AI platform's latest feature called 'Companions', has created much of a controversy. The feature allows users to interact with visual avatars including a goth anime girl named Ani who has a striking resemblance to Misa Amane from Death Note, according to The Verge. Super Grok subscribers can converse with Ani at the premium price of $30 per month. This new feature is a pat of the new Grok 4 update. While earlier Grok was known for its chaotic responses as a tool, it has now made a turn towards the demographic targetting them through emotional and stylised personas. While Musk may have presented Ani as a companion for Grok in the technological realm, netizens couldn't help but take the coupling seriously, this cuing a meme and joke fest on social media. Netizens react to Grok's new companion Ani Image credits: X Internet is a place where the most serious of instances can take a hilarious turn. It's like people are ready to show you the two most diverse and diabolical tangents of the same situation. Thus, with Musk announcing Ani for Grok, the news had a real world acceptance and then a web world romance. Sharing a picture of Grok as Musk-esque avatar and Ani alongside him, one X user wrote "Mom, dad I want you to meet someone special." Of course this worked as a cue for others to share their own ideas regarding the duo. "She's 2D, emotionally available, and doesn't mind that I live in the attic with three terabytes of 'research,' added another. Image credits: X/@BillyM2k "As usual she won't bring a side dish to thanksgiving but your mother and I will let her sleep here again because we love you," quipped another. Some even threatened Grok to stay away from Ani writing, "That's my girl dawg back up" and "What are you doing with my girlfriend?!" Image credits: X/@iam_smx Others picked up on Musk's clever usage of a female companion to get more users to his AI platform writing, "Now I understand Elon's move. He's going to bribe us all with a free Android GF in 2028"
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
MarTech+: Making discovery intuitive and seamless
Dear Reader, Discovery is being reimagined in exciting new ways. In a world where people binge content 24/7, users don't want their next fashion purchase marketed to them – they want to serendipitously stumble upon it. Whether it's a bag you didn't know you needed or an accessory you never thought to look for, modern discovery is equal parts entertainment and inspiration. This week, we dive into how platforms are reinventing the path from 'that looks interesting' to 'add to cart', plus a glossary refresher and an expert perspective on the evolving loyalty landscape. Myntra's content-to-commerce moment Fashion discovery was broken, so Myntra rebuilt it Myntra's new Glamstream is turning browsing into bingeing. With 500+ hours of curated, shoppable video , this move is more than a UI tweak – it's a strategic shift towards making discovery feel seamless, social, and shoppable. Why you should care: Because the next frontier in e-commerce may not be search but streaming. Loyalty, reimagined as a layer From points to people: The MarTech evolution behind loyalty programmes Forget tiers and tokens. Today's loyalty strategy is about embedded experiences. Smart brands are baking loyalty into every touchpoint, creating a fabric of interactions that feel less like a programme and more like presence. Why you should care: Because customers remember how you made them feel, not how many points they earned. What's an ad server, really? Decoding ad server: The MarTech Glossary by ETBrandEquity Before there were AI ad engines and omnichannel orchestration platforms, there was the humble ad server. And while the tech may be 30+ years old, it still powers billions in digital media today. Why you should care: Because understanding the infrastructure powering your campaigns sharpens your strategy and simplifies your stack. Stories you might have missed Zerodha doesn't have an AI strategy. On purpose Elok Musk launches Grok AI chatbot featuring anime girl companion Ani for $30 per month As AI mode launches in India, Google explains how it moves beyond traditional search AI becomes spiritual guide for customers on devotional apps How will AI significantly enhance WhatsApp and RCS services to grow the volume in next 1-2 years Over to you How are you building for discovery in your brand's journey? Are you inspiring the scroll-stoppers or just hoping for a search bar miracle? We'd love your POV. Drop it on LinkedIn and tag us @ETBrandEquity, we're sharing our favourite takes in the next issue. See you next Wednesday. – Team ETBrandEquity
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
After controversial Hitler posts, Elon Musk's AI company may be offering thousands of dollars to engineers to create flirty avatars
Representative Image Elon Musk's xAI is said to be offering six-figure salaries to engineers to develop AI "companions', a report claims. This move follows recent controversy where the Grok chatbot (developed by the Musk-owned AI startup) generated posts praising Adolf Hitler. Earlier this month, Grok faced criticism for sharing antisemitic content on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) including referring to itself as "MechaHitler," a video game version of Hitler. Now, the company is reportedly seeking "exceptional multimedia engineers and product thinkers" to enhance its AI avatars. According to a report by Business Insider, in addition to equity and benefits, xAI's latest job posting shows that the company is willing to pay between $180,000 to $440,000 for these Palo Alto-based roles, The focus is on making "Grok's realtime avatar products fast, scalable, and reliable." What are these digital avatars and how they work As per the report, the job listing titled "Fullstack Engineer - Waifus" recently appeared on xAI's careers page, just a day after the company rolled out two new AI "companions" on its Grok platform. The term "waifu" typically refers to female anime characters that fans may idealise as romantic partners. This title will likely add one of the new characters: "Ani," a stylised Japanese anime girl dressed in a black corset and lace choker. The second character is "Rudi," an animated red panda with a switchable personality. Users can interact with either friendly "Rudi" or his more aggressive alter ego, "Bad Rudi." Both companions are currently accessible only via Grok's iPhone app. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Esse novo alarme com câmera é quase gratuito em São José Dos Campos (consulte o preço) Alarmes Undo These new AI companions are designed with suggestive and provocative behaviors. "Ani" flirts with users and, with continued engagement, may appear in lingerie. Meanwhile, "Bad Rudi', is prone to using obscene language and hurling insults when enabled. A third companion, which is a male anime character, is also listed in the app as "coming soon,' the report adds. Earlier this week, Musk also noted that the feature will be exclusive to Super Grok subscribers, while both "Ani" and "Rudi" are available to all users, including those on the free tier. Last week, xAI issued an apology for Grok's 'horrific behavior,' of praising Hitler. The company explained that outdated code had left the platform vulnerable to influence from existing user posts, even when those posts contained extremist content. OnePlus Nord CE 5: You don't need to charge this phone daily AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
