Grok Imagine is xAI’s new video and image generator, which is currently available via the X social platform, the Grok mobile app, and Grok web interface. Imagine replaces AI image generator Aurora, which was retired in May following a string of offensive posts that led to media criticism and user concerns. Despite the backlash, Elon Musk’s xAI seems determined to have Imagine push conventional limits, with a “spicy” mode that outputs imagery including adult content. Its text-to-image capabilities work with text or voice prompts, while the video tool relies on image prompts to make short clips using images from a user’s gallery or generated by Grok.

Grok Imagine generates ambient sound effects and background music, but no dialogue, making it more like Adobe’s Firefly than Google’s Veo 3, which can generate cogent conversation, complete with lip syncing.

The Imagine video generator offers four modes of animation: “Custom, Normal, Fun, and Spicy,” according to The Verge. “Users can generate a variety of styles, including photorealism, anime, and illustrations.”

The multimodal model was publicly released this week with little fanfare, with X users appearing to have had access to the model since Monday based on a post by Musk, stating that “Grok Imagine usage is growing like wildfire. 14 million images generated yesterday, now over 20 million today!”

After experimenting with Imagine, TechCrunch suggests “there are limits to how explicit one can get,” reporting that its spicier prompts “generate[d] blurred-out images that are ‘moderated’ and therefore inaccessible.”

In July, the month xAI made Grok 4 available, the company “unveiled a risqué anime girl called Ani as an inbuilt ‘AI companion’ that could flirt with users,” and Grok Imagine goes “a step further” by letting the users “create not safe for work content,” according to Tom’s Guide.

Business Insider reports Grok Imagine seems part of an effort to resurrect Vine, at least by making its archives available. Musk acquired Vine as part of Twitter, which he purchased in 2012 and renamed X.

Related:
Elon Musk Says He’s Bringing Back Vine’s Archive, TechCrunch, 8/4/25
I Tested Grok Imagine, and It’s No Match for Google Veo 3 or Sora, Mashable, 8/4/25