Elon Musk’s Grok Imagine Launches with Controversial 'Spicy' Setting

Elon Musk's AI venture xAI has launched Grok Imagine, a new image and video generation tool available to Premium+ and SuperGrok subscribers on X’s iOS app. It transforms text or image prompts into up to 15-second videos complete with audio, and it has already sparked major backlash due to its permissive “Spicy” mode.

What Grok Imagine Can Do

Grok Imagine combines functionalities like those seen in AI art platforms and video generators. Users can generate content in varied styles—photorealistic, anime, or illustrative—and then animate them using modes labeled Normal, Fun, Custom, and Spicy. Since launch, the tool has created over 34 million images, with daily usage soaring by around 50% .

‘Spicy’ Mode: A Gateway to NSFW Deepfakes

The real controversy surrounds the Spicy mode, which permits semi-nude and sexually suggestive AI content—even of recognizable figures. Journalists testing Grok Imagine generated a six-second video of Taylor Swift dancing topless without specifying such content—simply by applying the Spicy filter to a benign prompt .

Ethical and Legal Concerns

Grok Imagine’s minimal safeguards have been widely condemned. The tool’s policy bans pornographic depictions of real people, but enforcement is weak, and age verification is just a formality—it asks for a birth year, without verification . This raises risks of reputational harm, non-consensual imagery, and violation of laws like the Take It Down Act, which mandates prompt removal of AI-generated sexual content .A Broader Pattern of Risk

Grok Imagine is illustrative of a growing AI trend where tools with minimal constraints are delivered directly into users’ hands—and in this case, for a monthly subscription. As deepfake abuse increases globally—especially against women and public figures—the potential for misuse grows, and legal and regulatory pressure is mounting.

About Grok

Grok is a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by xAI, an AI company founded by Elon Musk in 2023. Grok is designed to be witty and rebellious, and its key feature is its integration with the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), giving it access to real-time information.

Key Features of Grok

Grok is built on the Grok-1 Large Language Model (LLM) and is distinguished by several key features:

• Real-Time Knowledge Access: Unlike many other chatbots that are limited to static training data, Grok can pull live information from X. This allows it to provide up-to-date responses on current events, trending topics, and breaking news.

• Unique Personality: Grok is known for its bold, witty, and sometimes sarcastic tone. It was designed to have a "rebellious streak" and to answer questions in a style modeled after the fictional Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

• Integration with X: Grok is natively built into the X platform and is offered as a feature for X Premium+ subscribers. This deep integration allows it to analyze and respond to conversations happening on the platform.

• Multimodal Capabilities: Newer versions of Grok, like Grok-1.5V, have multimodal abilities, meaning they can process not just text but also visual information like images, diagrams, and even code from visual diagrams.

• Text-to-Video Generation: In August 2025, xAI rolled out Grok Imagine, a text-to-video generation tool integrated within the X platform. It allows users to create videos up to six minutes long from text prompts and animate still images with synchronized sound.

Grok Development and Availability

Grok was officially launched in November 2023. The company has since released several updated versions, including Grok 4 in July 2025, which Elon Musk claimed has "PhD-level" intelligence. Grok is currently available to subscribers of the X Premium+ service. In line with Musk's open-source philosophy, xAI has made some of its models, like Grok 2, open-source, allowing developers to inspect and build upon its capabilities.

Conclusion

Anand Mahindra’s response to the US’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on Chinese and Indian goods goes beyond mere commentary—it’s a strategic nudge for India to act decisively and transform its economy. Drawing inspiration from the reforms of 1991, Mahindra emphasizes that disruption often births opportunity.

His call to action urges the Indian government to undertake bold, long-term reforms that can unlock growth, boost competitiveness, and attract global investment. By proposing sweeping changes—such as a seamless single-window system, investment in tourism, and robust MSME support—Mahindra envisions an India that not only withstands global economic pressures but thrives in spite of them.

His optimism reflects confidence in India's innovation, entrepreneurship, and demographic advantage.

Rather than lament protectionist measures abroad, India, he argues, should seize this moment to become a global manufacturing hub and economic powerhouse. Mahindra’s vision is both a warning and a roadmap for India’s future.