Topline
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI launched a beta version of its latest AI assistant Grok 2 Wednesday, adding an image generation tool similar to OpenAI’s DALL-E and Google’s Gemini, but with apparently fewer restrictions on the types of images that can be generated.
xAI launched its latest artificial intelligence models Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini on Wednesday.
Key Facts
The startup called the Grok-2 AI model a “significant step forward” compared to the older Grok 1.5 and also announced the launch of Grok-2 mini, “a small but capable sibling.”
The Grok-2 beta can be accessed by X users who pay for a ‘Premium’ or ‘Premium+’ subscription and can already respond to prompts with both text and images.
Unlike its rivals, DALL-E, Gemini and Midjourney, Grok-2 appears to have far fewer restrictions on the types of images it can generate—including prompts involving political leaders.
Some X users posted examples of images generated by Grok-2 including one in which former President Donald Trump is firing two handguns, one of Vice President Kamala Harris in military gear standing in the Gaza Strip and another of a boxing bout between the two main presidential candidates.
Users also shared examples of Grok-2 generating images of copyrighted products and brands including the Simpsons, Nike sneakers and Tom and Jerry sharing a Coca-Cola.
In a dig at Google’s Gemini—which courted controversy after appearing to generate a photo of a Black U.S. founding father—Musk shared a screenshot of Grok-2 generating a portrait of George Washington.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
Key Background
Musk formed xAI in April last year after accusing OpenAI’s ChatGPT of being biased, politically correct and “woke.” The billionaire was a co-founder and early backer of OpenAI but his relationship with the company worsened in recent years, which resulted in Musk filing a lawsuit against the company’s leadership. The X owner has also attacked OpenAI’s main rival Google, as he blamed the Gemini AI tool’s issues on the tech giant being a “woke bureaucratic blob.” The first version of the Grok chatbot was rolled out to X premium subscribers in November. Both Musk and xAI have positioned Grok as having fewer guardrails than the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini—with the company saying Grok “is designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak.” xAI’s website still describes Grok as “our conversational AI for serious and not-so-serious discussions.”
Big Number
$18 billion. That is the valuation at which xAI raised $6 billion in a funding round in May. The startup named Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Saudi entrepreneur Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Fidelity Management & Research Company among the investors.