X, the Elon Musk-owned social network previously known as Twitter, has added a new image generator to its Grok assistant. However, after going live for a few hours on Saturday, the product seemed to disappear for some users, TechCrunch reported.
Just like the first image generator X added to Grok in October, this one, called Aurora, appears to have a few restrictions.
Accessible through the Grok tab on X’s mobile apps and the web, Aurora can generate images of public and copyrighted figures, like Mickey Mouse, without complaint. The model stopped short of nudes in TechCrunch’s brief tests, but graphic content like “an image of a bloodied Donald Trump,” wasn’t off limits.
Staffers at xAI, Musk’s AI startup, which developed Grok and many of X’s AI powered features, announced Aurora in posts on X early Saturday. But the posts didn’t reveal whether xAI trained Aurora itself, built on top of an existing image generator, or, as was the case with xAI’s first image generator, Flux, collaborated with a third party.
The Verge reported: X has given Grok a new AI generator model called “Aurora” that seems to create far more photorealistic imagery than Grok’s other image generator, with similarly few apparent restrictions on what it will produce.
Anyone can use Aurora. It lives in a new “Grok 2 + Aurora beta” option in the Grok model selector, though you’ll only get a few queries before you hit the X Premium subscription paywall and have to wait.
The Verge noted that TechCrunch found that the model, which X employee Chris Park posted is available this morning, was willing to create copyrighted characters and public figures, including Mickey Mouse and “a bloodied Donald Trump” but that it “stopped short of nudes.” It’s lack of restrictions isn’t surprising, giving our experience with Grok’s other model.
TechRadar reported XAI’s chatbot Grok is now free to chat with on X (formerly Twitter), at least to a limited extent. Grok has been available only to people paying for an X Premium subscription until now, but after a few tests over the last few weeks, the free tier is now rolling out globally.
The free version of Grok employs the Grok-2 AI model, just like the Premium option. It includes a feature for producing images and Grok’s signature “Fun Mode,” which is supposed to make Grok’s responses edgier, more provocative, and wittier than usual.
You can send up to 10 messages to the chatbot every two hours without paying, and you can only ask the AI to make three images a day. That’s enough for a taste, but clearly, X and xAI are hoping it’s enough to entice people into signing up to pay at least $7 a month to engage with the chatbot more.
In my opinion, I think there will be users who want to see what Aurora can do. That said, it doesn’t mean that everyone who uses X (formerly Twitter) will be interested using this new technology.