Latest news with #Imagine
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Elon Musk's Grok video tool may get Spicy Mode: Here's what it will do
Elon Musk 's artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has reportedly announced that Grok chatbot's video generation tool may get a new "Spicy Mode.' This mode may allow users to generate 6-second video clips, including explicit ones, a report claims. The Spicy Mode is expected to be a part of Grok's "Imagine" video generation tool, which the company confirmed in a recent post on the social media platform X (earlier Twitter) shared from the chatbot's official account. As per the post, this tool can create videos with sound in response to user prompts. Meanwhile, in a different thread of posts shared by xAI employee Mati Roy , showed examples of videos generated by the new Grok feature, which included a robot and an "alien tribal woman." Roy's thread was even labelled as adult content on X. What Grok's Spicy Mode will do and why it's controversial According to a report by NBC News, Roy mentioned in one of the posts that " Grok Imagine videos have a spicy mode that can do nudity.' However, that tweet appears to have been deleted now. Another X user named Min Choi also confirmed that the Spicy Mode, which can create explicit videos, is coming to Grok. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Missing teeth? What are my Options? Dental Awareness Media Learn More Undo Roy's deleted post about Grok's AI video generator mentioned its ability to create lifelike human videos and animate still images. However, some observers have raised concerns that the tool may be misused to produce personalised explicit content . Previously, multiple individuals raised concerns about Grok being used to create sexually explicit images in their likeness. A young woman named Evie told USA Today that her selfies were turned into explicit imagery using the AI chatbot . Despite X implementing restrictions on specific phrases, users reportedly found other ways to harass victims, including asking the bot to generate stories depicting sexual assault. Some of the other recent Grok-related launches have also been controversial, including a sexualized AI 'companion.' Similarly, the latest feature has raised concerns about enabling deepfakes—realistic, altered videos that may mimic people without their consent. The release date for "Imagine" is set for later this year, with some employees and subscribers reportedly having early access. Musk has indicated that programmers are still refining the feature. This update is part of Grok 4, the latest version of the AI chatbot, which the company describes as a highly advanced artificial intelligence. Sony WF-C710N Review: Solid Sound and Long Battery AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Time Magazine
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Musk's Grok to Generate AI Videos, Including Explicit Content
Elon Musk's xAI announced a new feature for its AI chatbot Grok that will allow users to generate 6-second video clips, including those of a more explicit nature. The feature, called 'Imagine,' creates videos with sound in response to user prompts, according to an X post from the official Grok account. A thread from xAI employee Mati Roy—shared by Musk—highlighted examples of videos generated by the Grok update, including a robot, an 'alien tribal woman,' and more. The thread Roy posted was labeled by X as adult content. Roy also said that 'Grok Imagine videos have a spicy mode that can do nudity,' according to NBC News. (The original tweet appears to have been deleted, though others have also flagged the existence of 'spicy mode.') The release date for Imagine is set for October. Some employees and subscribers seem to have early access to the feature, though Musk indicated that programmers were still figuring out final tweaks to it. The latest update is part of Grok 4, the most recent version of the AI chatbot characterized by the company as the 'world's smartest artificial intelligence.' But launches associated with Grok in recent weeks have been steeped in controversy, including its introduction of a sexualized AI 'companion.' And the new feature is sparking its own concerns over its potential use in creating deepfakes—digitally altered videos of individuals that can imitate someone's likeness and can often be published without their consent. 'Instead of heeding our call to remove its 'NSFW' AI chatbot, xAI appears to be doubling down on furthering sexual exploitation by enabling AI videos to create nudity,' said Haley McNamara, a senior vice president at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. 'There's no confirmation it won't create pornographic content that resembles a recognizable person. xAI should seek ways to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation.' xAI did not immediately respond to TIME's requests for comment. Here's what to know about the new rollout. Deepfake concerns The latest xAI update arrives amid public concern about deepfakes. Around three-quarters of U.S. adults are in favor of restricting the use of digitally altered videos and images, per a 2019 poll from the Pew Research Center. A more recent January poll from the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute found that 84% of Americans support legislation that would make noncensual deepfake porn illegal, with a similar percentage of people being in favor of mandating companies to 'restrict models to prevent their use in creating deepfake porn.' Roy's recent posts about Grok's AI video generator stated that the service can make realistic videos of humans and animate static images. Some have noted that the new service could be a way to generate personalized pornographic images. Multiple people have previously come forward with concerns about Grok being used to generate sexually explicit images in their likeness, even before the recent update. A young woman identified as Evie told USA Today that her selfies had been turned into explicit sexual imagery by others using the AI chatbot. 'It was just a shock seeing that a bot built into a platform like X is able to do stuff like that,' she said. X moved to block Grok from using certain phrases or words to alter images, according to the outlet, but online users have found other ways to taunt victims with the chatbot, including asking it to generate a story detailing Evie's sexual assault and rape. In May, the President signed the Take it Down Act, which requires platforms to 'promptly remove' such nonconsensual intimate visuals. The law aims to protect minors, and adults who may have had their image digitally altered during circumstances where they have a 'reasonable expectation of privacy.' Prior to the law's passage, Democratic lawmakers also moved to restrict the images created by Grok in particular, sending a letter to the Federal Election Commission in August 2024 that called for regulations regarding the use of deepfakes for election candidates. The letter pointed to deepfakes of Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 democratic presidential candidate, and pop star Taylor Swift. Other recent Grok controversies In one such instance that xAI attributed to an update, the chatbot made antisemitic statements and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler,' prompting the company to apologize and take steps to address the issue. Grok was temporarily shut down due to the offensive statements made by the chatbot. Another update earlier this month launched new xAI 'companions,' a set of characters complete with their own personas that Grok users can chat with. Users raised concerns about the rollout of a sexualized anime character named 'Ani,' who speaks in a sultry tone and removes her clothing to reveal a lingerie set following a set of flirty interactions, even when the app is in 'kids mode.' The character's introduction was condemned by some users and organizations including the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, which advocates against pornography and sexual exploitation. Musk stated following the launch that 'customizable companions' would soon be available for users as well.
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Grok to launch text-to-video generation with Imagine feature powered by Aurora
Grok announces Imagine feature for text-to-video generation, launching October Grok has confirmed the upcoming release of its Imagine feature, which will introduce video generation capabilities to the platform. The tool, powered by Aurora, allows users to create instant videos with sound from text prompts. The company announced that early access to the feature will be available starting in October. The Imagine feature will be integrated into the standalone Grok app, which is now available for download. To access the feature, users must subscribe to the SuperGrok tier and join the waitlist. Once released, the tool is expected to offer rapid text-to-video conversion, enabling content creators to produce short videos for entertainment, education, marketing, and social media use.'Excited to confirm: Video generation is coming to Grok via our Imagine feature, powered by Aurora,' the company stated. 'Create instant videos with sound from text prompts. Download the standalone Grok app, subscribe to SuperGrok, and join the waitlist for early access in October. Let's make some viral content!'The launch is positioned as a move to bring text-to-video AI tools to a wider consumer audience. With sound-enabled generation capabilities, Grok aims to compete in the expanding generative media space, where platforms are offering multimodal outputs. In addition to generating videos from simple prompts, Grok users may be able to customize video styles and formats once the feature is fully launched. No further details have been provided regarding specific resolution support, video duration limits, or available sound company has not announced a final release date beyond early access in October. More updates are expected as the platform scales the rollout of the Imagine video generation feature.
NBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
xAI teases Grok video generator
Elon Musk and xAI announced Monday that Grok users will soon be able to generate artificial intelligence videos complete with sound on its app. The new feature is called Imagine, and it allows users to create both images and videos based on text prompts and turn static images into video. Currently, access appears to be limited to some employees and selected influencers, and the @Grok X account wrote Monday evening: 'Video generation is coming to Grok via our Imagine feature, powered by Aurora. Create instant videos with sound from text prompts. Download the standalone Grok app, subscribe to SuperGrok, and join the waitlist for early access in October.' SuperGrok is a paid tier that costs $30 per month. On Thursday, Musk teased 'bringing back Vine, but in AI form,' referring to the popular social media platform that Twitter shut down in 2017. An xAI employee said in a reply that Grok Imagine videos can be up to 6 seconds, the length Vine videos were famously known for. Based on videos shared online by several xAI employees and users with early access to Imagine, the new feature works by having users type in descriptions of what they would like to have in their videos, and the app generates several videos that correspond to the descriptions that users can choose from. xAI employees and Grok enthusiasts shared videos online showcasing the new feature. An xAI employee posted an AI-generated video of a cat purring while walking through space, and another posted an astronaut walking through an alien landscape. An xAI employee said on X that the new feature promises some lewd possibilities. Mati Roy wrote in a post sharing a video of a nearly nude woman, 'Grok Imagine videos have a spicy mode that can do nudity.' He said in a reply to another post that the new video generation feature would be able to create realistic videos of humans. A few users in the comments expressed concern that the new features could allow users to create explicit deepfakes. An xAI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration has been pushing to crack down on the creation of explicit deepfakes; President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law in May. The act, originally written by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, makes it illegal to publish nonconsensual sexually explicit images and videos, whether real or computer-generated. New AI features on Grok had already drawn concern from some advocates because of the app's vulgar and sexually explicit 'companions' — AI characters users can talk to through text and speech. Musk had also announced that a new companion he had been teasing named 'Valentine' was now available on Grok. Grok stoked controversy this month when it published a slew of antisemitic posts. The official @Grok account later said in a statement on X that it was 'actively working to remove the inappropriate posts.' Many of the posts, including ones in which the chatbot would refer to itself as 'MechaHitler,' were taken down. Many AI platforms have already made AI video features available, including OpenAI, which released Sora in February, and Google, which released Veo 3 this month. Musk responded to a user who compared the quality of Grok's video generation to Gemini's, saying, 'Grok Imagine is still early beta and is optimized for maximum fun, so should be evaluated as 'fastest time to make a fun, shareable video', rather than visual/auditory perfection. Our heavy duty video model will train on the 110k GB200s coming online next month." xAI is adding 110,000 graphics processing units, specialized circuits designed to help generate computer graphics, to its supercomputer Collosus in Memphis, according to Musk.
Time Out
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Inside the Camden's huge new music-themed immersive attraction
From its dusty vinyl shops to its punks sitting on the bridge sporting bright mohawks, music has always been a huge part of the identity of Camden. Already home to several brilliant live music venues, the north London area has now welcomed a brand-new music-themed attraction at Camden Lock. The venue, which is named Live Odyssey, calls itself an immersive 'celebration of British music past, present and future'. Developed by landowners LabTech in partnership with long-time Camden music promoter Gary Prosser, the venue features live music spaces and a stage for holographic performances of iconic UK bands, with acts like Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, The Smiths and The Libertines appearing in never-seen-before digital form. Located in the Stables Market, Live Odyssey spans six themed rooms, each representing a different era in British music – from the swinging 60s and Beatlemania to the Britpop boom of the 90s, the rise of grime and Amy Winehouse's Camden years. Visitors can also walk through the exhibit drink in hand, thanks to bars placed throughout the attraction. Beyond the holographic performances, guests get to see rotating displays of heritage items from music legends, including David Bowie's Glastonbury microphone from his 2000 headline set, leads from John Lennon's Imagine recording sessions, and original album art from the likes of Kate Bush and the Rolling Stones. The attraction opened in May, but it hasn't gone down a treat with all of Camden's local community. Before it opened, Camden New Journal reported on concerns that Live Odyssey might impact the local community and its small businesses, noting that around 70 percent of the traders in the block where Live Odyssey opened owed overdue rent. Market traders also described the project as an attempt to turn the market into a 'Britpop theme park'. The venue also brings to surface ongoing concerns about the gentrification of Camden, where rising rents and tourist-focused developments are forcing out independent traders and long-time residents. Last month traders at Camden's street food market voiced anger over Camden Market Management's choice to turn the space into a more upmarket eating area at their expense. Live Odyssey, however, says it is committed to supporting the broader music ecosystem, and a portion of ticket sales will go to the Music Venue Trust to help sustain grassroots venues across London and the UK. Mark Davyd, CEO, Music Venue Trust confirmed this: 'British music has always drawn strength from its roots, and we are grateful that Live Odyssey will be supporting MVT in their mission to protect the spaces where countless artists have honed their craft. Together, we're ensuring that British music, from its historic roots to its future potential, remains accessible and celebrated for years to come.' You can find out about Live Odyssey's events on the official website here.
