Grace Kay and Theo Wayt, writing for the paywalled-with-no-gift-links The Information:
xAI launched an upgraded video model last week, highlighting how
it’s pushing ahead with its own visual efforts even as it brings
in outside help to compete with rivals in areas like coding.
SpaceX also touted the popularity of its AI video tools ahead of
its blockbuster IPO. What SpaceX didn’t mention, however, is that
much of the consumer demand stems from Grok’s looser content
rules, which have made it a major destination for generating
pornography and other racy content.Indeed, two recent xAI employees estimated that well over half of
Grok’s overall traffic was driven by pornographic images and
videos, adult role-play chats or other NSFW activity. On forums
for Grok users, many of the most popular posts are porn. Users can
generate visuals in several ways, including picking the video
models through the consumer app or tapping them through other Grok
products.
Maybe that’s a sustainable business model. But I don’t think it’s what SpaceX hype investors think they’re putting their money into.
