Elon Musk's social network, X (formerly Twitter), introduced a new image generator called Aurora through its Grok assistant. However, the feature was briefly available on Saturday before disappearing for some users.
Aurora, like X’s earlier image generator Flux, appears to have minimal content restrictions. Accessible via the Grok tab on X’s mobile apps and website, it can create images of public and copyrighted figures, such as Mickey Mouse, without issue. While it avoids explicit nudity, it allowed graphic imagery, including a request for a "bloodied Donald Trump," during testing.
Details about Aurora's development remain unclear. Posts from xAI, Musk's AI startup that manages Grok and other AI features on X, announced Aurora but didn’t clarify whether it was independently trained, built on an existing model, or developed in partnership with another company, as was the case with Flux. One xAI employee confirmed involvement in fine-tuning Aurora.
Aurora excels at creating photorealistic images, including landscapes and still lifes, but it isn’t without flaws. Users reported unnatural blending of objects and distorted human features, particularly hands—a common challenge for image generators.
Aurora's launch coincides with X making Grok free for all users. Previously available only to Premium subscribers paying $8 per month, the chatbot now allows free users to send up to 10 messages every two hours and generate three images daily.
Meanwhile, xAI has been busy with other developments, including closing a $6 billion funding round, reportedly working on a standalone Grok app, and preparing to release the next-generation Grok 3 model.
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