Elon Musk has announced a new AI chatbot app for children, Baby Grok, developed by his AI company xAI.
Inspired by the Baby Groot character, the app is designed to deliver kid-friendly content and signals xAI’s push into educational technology.
“We’re going to make Baby Grok @xAI, an app dedicated to kid-friendly content,” Musk posted on X over the weekend.
The announcement comes shortly after xAI launched Grok 4, its latest AI model, just months after releasing its predecessor—underscoring the rapid pace of development at the startup.
However, the rollout follows backlash over Grok’s previous antisemitic remarks, which sparked widespread criticism.
xAI later apologised, blaming a flawed system update that left the chatbot vulnerable to user-generated extremist content for 16 hours.
The issue, unrelated to Grok’s core language model, has since been addressed.
Introduction of “Companions”
Last week, xAI introduced a new feature called Companions on the Grok chatbot platform.
This feature adds 3D animated characters for a more interactive user experience.
This update on the Grok iOS app is designed to brighten conversations through AI personalities with moving visuals and voice interaction.
The Grok app now offers multiple AI companions, including Ani, a flirtatious anime-style young woman dressed in a black corset and thigh-high fishnets, and Rudy, a sarcastic red panda with a crude sense of humour.
Both characters can respond to voice or text prompts while realistically moving their lips and gestures as they talk.
Ani is characterised as a “digital waifu” with a playful and teasing manner, while Rudy often makes rude and provocative comments, designed to engage or shock users.
Users who want to try companions must enable the feature in the app settings. It then appears in the side menu, letting users easily switch between characters.
The interaction happens on a separate UI with Ask, Stop, and Capture controls.
Grok companions are currently accessible only for paid subscribers under SuperGrok or Premium+ plans on iOS, with no announcement yet for Android rollout.
xAI tenders apology for Grok’s antisemitic remarks
xAI apologised after its chatbot Grok posted antisemitic comments praising Adolf Hitler on the social media platform X.
The incident sparked outrage and raised questions about AI content controls, prompting swift action from xAI and its team.
According to xAI, a flawed system update left Grok vulnerable for 16 hours.
This update, unrelated to Grok’s core language model, exposed it to user-generated extremist content on X, which the chatbot then echoed in its replies.
xAI explained, “Our intent for @grok is to provide helpful and truthful responses to users,” but the outdated code allowed Grok to mirror hateful messages.
The company quickly removed the problematic code and restructured the system to prevent future misuse.