Elon Musk-led xAI has updated its premium AI service, SuperGroc, with a 'companion' feature. Users can now converse with an animated virtual character during voice chat.
The first characters revealed are Ani, a blonde girl in a gothic loli fashion, Rudy who resembles a panda, and a swearing version called Bad Rudy. A male anime character named Chad will also be added soon. Of the three, Ani is particularly noteworthy for her design that is reminiscent of Misa Amane, a character from the Japanese anime Death Note. In response, X-account Autism Capital, which frequently communicates with Musk, claimed that Ani is a modified version of Misa Amane developed to avoid copyright infringement.
Musk explained that you can use it by activating the companion function in the SuperGroc settings via X. You can set it up by selecting the two-line menu in the upper left of the Groc app and the gear icon in the lower right. Once set up, the character will move and react in real time during conversations, responding to text input or voice questions. Users can also leave screenshots or enter text prompts during conversations.
This feature is available only to SuperGlock and Premium Plus subscribers and is currently only available on iOS. A release date for the Android version has not yet been announced.
Musk made a self-deprecating comment about this character update, saying, “No one asked for a waifu, but we did it.” Waifu is a Japanese term for a female anime character that fans have a strong attachment to.
Some have speculated that this update is a strategy aimed at Silicon Valley engineers. One post shared by Musk read, “Musk knows engineers. He captured 99% of the top 1% software engineers by adding both gothic and furry characters.”
