Elon Musk’s Grok under fire for flirty Anime bot and vulgar Panda companion

The Grok chatbot companions, including a flirty anime bot and a radical panda, are drawing backlash for promoting sexual objectification and violence through interactive voice responses and lip-synced, gesture-enabled AI avatars

Just days after facing backlash over antisemitic content generated by its AI chatbot Grok, Elon Musk’s xAI has once again sparked controversy — this time for introducing two animated AI companions designed to engage users in provocative, sometimes explicit, conversations.

The two new characters, Ani and Bad Rudi, have been rolled out as part of a “soft launch” of Grok’s interactive companion feature. Ani, styled as a flirty Japanese anime girl, encourages romantic engagement and reportedly responds to user flirtation with progressively suggestive interactions. Bad Rudi, a red panda avatar, takes a more chaotic route, frequently using offensive language and promoting violent or anarchic fantasies.

These companions respond to both voice and text commands, with realistic gestures and lip-syncing features, offering users what xAI claims is a new dimension of interactivity. However, multiple videos shared on X (formerly Twitter) show Bad Rudi making disturbing suggestions, including bombing banks, harming public figures, and spiking community water supplies. Ani, while less violent, has been criticised for objectifying women and promoting risky sexual themes, raising concerns among advocacy groups.

xAI faces growing criticism

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has condemned the Ani character as "childlike" and accused xAI of contributing to the normalization of sexual objectification through AI. In response to the backlash, xAI has remained silent, refusing to issue any public comment or clarification on the launch.

Although users must opt in via settings to access these characters — with an additional toggle for the more vulgar version of Bad Rudi — the feature is currently available even to those using Grok without a paid subscription. Critics argue that such content, even with opt-in controls, sets a dangerous precedent for mainstream AI adoption.

Elon Musk’s AI ventures have been increasingly unpredictable, with Grok previously accused of pushing extremist content. Musk claims to have personally overseen Grok’s development and continues to merge xAI more closely with his wider business empire, including a reported $2 billion investment from SpaceX. Meanwhile, the Pentagon recently included xAI in a $200 million AI contract allocation, highlighting the growing influence of Musk’s AI initiatives.

As concerns mount over content moderation and ethical design in generative AI, Grok’s latest feature rollout appears to blur the lines between innovation, entertainment, and irresponsibility.