Grok accidentally releases a new AI image maker for a little while

(Image credit: lilgrapher / Shutterstock)

Aurora is a new photorealistic image generator for Grok
It appeared for a few hours, then vanished
Musk claims it was a beta released by mistake

Grok had a new image generator, at least for a few hours this weekend when some X users stumbled upon Aurora, a photorealistic image generator apparently inadvertently released for the social media platform. Aurora offered some fun for users for a little while before it vanished as quickly as it arrived.

Aurora's brief appearance marked a significant upgrade from the current Flux AI image creator. One thing they have in common is a somewhat laid-back approach to copyright and trademark rules, judging from what was shared online. Whether any lawyers have told people to take down AI images they post of Mario, as happened with Flux, isn't clear as of yet. That said, even the most impressive images had the usual quirks, subtle or otherwise, of AI creation, including weirdly long or short limbs and poreless faces. The only thing it apparently wouldn't show is nudity.

Musk’s response to Aurora’s sudden spotlight? A casual acknowledgment on X. “Just the beta version, but it will improve very fast,” he posted in reply to a fan’s praise of the model. That comment suggests Aurora’s development is far from over, and this little test run was likely an unpolished preview of what’s to come.

Grok the picture

For a model that’s not ready for full release, it's still pretty obvious that X wants Aurora to compete with DALL-E and other AI image models. The goal is likely to keep X users willing to pay for premium services like Grok with the aid of high-quality AI images.

Aurora would tie in nicely with other moves made by Musk for X to expand access to Grok with a new free tier offering limited access to the AI chatbot. While the sudden retraction of Aurora implies there are some issues that the developers are ironing out, the overall goal is still to compete in every facet of AI tools. It also fits with the expanding presence of Grok in other areas, such as an expected mobile app launch in the near future.

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Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.